Praestolatio Prestolatio
by Lammybug
Summary: A continuation of The Eclipse Series Epilogue. What happens after a year?
1. Commoneo

**Disclaimer**: Story written for entertainment purposes.

**Author's Note**: This one has been bothering me so that it had to be written. I'm sure that this won't have as many fans as an SN fic but it's something that I needed to do. I hope you enjoy this short little drama that I needed to get out of my system.

Praestolatio Prestolatio is Latin for "the waiting for, expectation."

Commoneo is Latin for "to remember, recollect."

**Summary**: Continuation to The Eclipse Series Epilogue. What happens after one year?

_**Praestolatio Prestolatio**_

_**Chapter One: Commoneo**_

A year had passed and when she looks back on what she'd accomplished during that time, she was proud. She hopes that he would be proud of her too. Not that she was going to race over to tell him first thing and gush about it. But she likes to think that if he had been with her and seen her accomplishments, he would have been proud too. He had never been far from her thoughts, ever. She thought of him even when she was not even trying to. It was not a rare thing for her to be going about her tasks and duties and stop to think of how he would have handled a situation and what his reaction would be to what she was doing. He was perhaps the most reliable, rational man she has ever met. Noctis usually did not even bother to ask before Sapien was already looking for a solution. He was just that type of man. Helpful, resourceful and brilliant.

It was an example she had tried to follow. She had always frustrated herself when someone else always had to save her when she was in trouble. As a Crystal Bearer, she needed to be the savior, not the victim. It was her responsibility. So it makes her love deepen when she thinks about how that had never stopped him. Noctis had always been the one with the power but it was Sapien who helped direct it. She remembers all those times she heard them telling her their stories about the times they had to invent ways to help Noctis train his powers. Sapien was the one with the ideas while Vires and Des were the ones that went through with the experiments. He was someone that did not need the powers of a Crystal to make him effective or great. There was just the natural born talent already inside of him. He used his head and actually thought while everyone else reacted.

Among his many talents, he also seemed to be a mind reader too. She can't even list the amount of times Noctis or anyone else had only to look at him and he already knew what they needed him to do. All within a simple look. Her mind goes back to all those times she had caught him looking at her. She had never felt self conscious or uncomfortable when he looked at her. He never looked at her as if he were checking her out. As if he were trying to undress her neither did he look at her in any way that was considered crude. His stare was never lustful or blank. It always felt like he was trying to see how she worked. He always watched carefully. Carefully in the way you would stare at a painting to catch even the littlest details of the brush's strokes.

Despite not being a Crystal Bearer himself, Sapien was easily the second most powerful man in Nihilsomno. The other male Crystal Bearers were not as influential as he was either. His position of always being at the right hand of Noctis helped but he wouldn't have always been there if he wasn't who he was. Noctis counted on Sapien for things that he would never count on anyone else for. So everyone else did too. Of the three brothers, Sapien was the closest to Noctis. Even though she's never really seen the both of them talk for very long. Des and even Vires were more vocal in a crowd than Sapien. Oh, he spoke when he needed to and he never hesitated in adding his own dry comments. He just, was not boisterous like the other two were. What he did say was always with the same tone that was deceptively flat. Not emotionless and stiff like Fulgur's, just dry. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, which made it sort of disconcerting when he always seemed to know what everyone else was.

Throughout this year, the small packages came at regular intervals. They were hardly ever from the same place and they never had a card. The lack of a card never upset her. Neither did the almost systematic way the packages arrived. They always came right on time. She could almost set a clock to them. None of these things bothered her because that was exactly who he was. A card would have been a little much since she knew he was not a man that would break out into pose. It left an openness, as if by accepting these packages, he did not hold her to any sort of obligation. The almost systematic way that the packages arrived was so much like him too. They were constant. They were reliable. They always came when she knew they would. Never late and always on time. Every two weeks, on a Monday. They were like little pick me ups to make a traditionally dreary day cheerful. Even the thoughtfulness of that was endearing. Nobody looked forward to Mondays but he had her looking forward to them every two weeks.

Given the regularity of their arrivals, it was hardly a surprise to see that she had quite a few of them. Right now the count was at sixty five. Fifty during the year of silence and another fifteen for seven months until she had to leave for Nihilsomno. She has already decided that she will be leaving on a Tuesday. Even the amount of them would have made you wonder if he would run out of ideas of what to send her. But that would mean that you had forgotten that he was Sapien. A man who always had an idea. The fact that he had none regarding how much she had always loved him was rather confounding. He who could read people so well, could not read that in her eyes.

The creativity in the selection of little gifts was always a shock. When packages came from places that she had been, they were always things that she had enjoyed while there. How he even knew about them was a little scary considering he had not come along on the majority of the trips the Crystal Bearers had taken together. While Noctis was away, it was Sapien who had to stay behind and make sure all was well in Noctis' absence. When packages arrived from places she had not been to, they were often little keepsakes that she would have most likely have chosen for herself. If Noctis could not attend, it was often that Sapien would travel in his stead. So she knew he had not ordered them but must have selected them during his travels.

_Half as much as I'll think of you._

She still marvels at those words. She wonders what he thinks of when he thinks about her. It had to be frequently if those words were true and she already knew they must be because he wouldn't have said it if it had been otherwise. It did not seem possible to think of him doubly when he was always so much on her mind already. More often than not, she found herself looking at something and wondering if he would like it. Then she would wonder if that was what he asked himself whenever he chose something to be sent in another package to her. He must. Somehow that made her feel even more connected to him. That, even though, there was so much distance between them, they were thinking about each other.

There were times she was almost desperate to tell him just how much he influenced her. How much he guided her with his example of calm consideration and selflessness. She does not think she will ever perfect the calm part but she was at least trying to. Sometimes she wondered if he was expecting a response from her. More than once she had been tempted to send him a package for a change. But somehow she knew that he was not expecting her to do anything. So, when she felt the pain of missing him too much and wanting to blurt out her feelings, she simply sat amongst the lavender flowers that he had placed there for her. It was not even a question worth asking that she had meticulously cared for them so that they stayed exactly as he had wanted them to be for her. It never failed to make her smile.

At night, she needed only to stare at her vanity to be reminded of him again. In a place she could easily see from any part of her room, was by far her favorite of his gifts. It was a delicate porcelain figurine that was about the size of her finger. The details of the face were a little fuzzy, given how small it was but she had known right away why he had chosen it for her. Not only did the figurine have hair the same color as hers, it was holding a bouquet of lavender flowers. There weren't any words to describe just how touched she had been when she had seen it. How it touched her even now whenever she looked at it. If she hadn't already been in love with him as deeply as she was, she was deadly positive she would have been when she had first seen the figurine the day that it had arrived. She just wishes she could have known his thoughts when he had seen it.

When Stella had reached her seventh month of pregnancy, she received two letters. One had been from Stella, letting her know that staying as long as she had during Lux's arrival was too much to ask of her again. That Procella had offered to stay and she didn't need to worry about someone keeping the boys in line and keeping her company at the same time. The second letter had been from Noctis. It had clearly been written after Stella must have told him about her own letter. In it, he had asked for her to come anyway because his brothers reacted better to her than they did to Procella. She had laughed so hard that she had to slap her hand over her mouth. She suspected that Noctis was deliberately leaving out the fact that he reacted better to her than to Procella the most. The icy queen had always made Noctis uneasy.

Des wouldn't have really cared. Procella's stony demeanor had never stopped him from whatever he wanted to say to her. It never gave him any pause when she'd turn to glare at him either. He seemed immune. So he was not the one who wouldn't react well. Vires never really interacted with the other Crystal Bearers except her and Vitrum, but that was because they were young. He never gave a hint that he would react badly to Procella at any time. She can't think of a time when she had seen Sapien speak to Procella either. Though they must have talked on several occasions. He reacted to her as he reacted to everyone. A look devoid of emotion and a dry tone. So the only real person she could think of who would be the most bothered would be Noctis. She laughs again when she thinks of this. Procella was actually very nice. If she was there, she could ask her and Stella how she was going to act around Sapien. They would definitely be a lot of help.

Regardless of how funny she thought it was, she would go for Noctis' sake and she wouldn't laugh at him for asking either. She loved him too much to do that. Even though she knows his brothers wouldn't have spared him. She's just honored and tickled that Noctis was asking her for a favor. There really wasn't anything she wouldn't do for him. It goes without saying that she is delighted to go because it creates so many more opportunities to see Sapien again. She's only unsure if her heart is going to be able to stay in her chest long enough for her to actually see him.

The trip itself had been long. It was always long and it didn't help any that she couldn't sleep. She had made sure to leave on a Tuesday after a scheduled package arrived for her the day before. It had been a small bottle of lavender colored sand with miniature seashells mixed in. She had never even know that such a color of sand even existed and couldn't help the laugh that escaped her mouth when she had lifted up the bottle. Without really knowing why, she had carefully packed her porcelain figurine in her bag to bring along with her. Even though it hadn't made sense for her to take it with her, she felt like she needed to. Maybe she would get a chance to show just how much she loved it. How was she going to bring it up? She didn't even know how she was going to look at him without everyone knowing exactly what she felt towards him. What was he going to say when they bumped into each other?

Upon her arrival, it was Vires who waited for her by the car at the end of the airfield. His scarred face was smiling while his arms were crossed before his chest. She watched his eyes light up in pride as she stepped off her airship and walked towards him before he was engulfing her in one of his bear hugs.

"It's so good to see, Little One," he says when he had withdrawn to take a closer look at her. "You look lovely."

"Thank you, Vires," she answers with a smile. "It's so good to see you too!"

"Come, I've got to get you to the castle," he says reaching down to grab hold of her bags and loading them into the car.

"How is everyone?" she asks.

"Everyone's doing good," he answers kindly. He opens the door for her and carefully closes it behind her. When he slides into the seat on the other side, the driver starts forward. "Noct's doing his fretting over Stella."

She giggles at the look on his face. "Is Procella here yet?"

"She's been here for a couple days," he answers easily. "Bossing everyone around as she always does."

"So that means you stay out of her way?" she teases.

"I've no interest in getting frostbite," he grumbles, making her laugh again.

She can see him smirk from the corner of her eyes.

"Sapien and Des? What are you they up?"

"Des is trying to distract Noct with Lux, while Procella does her own fretting over Stella," he answers. "I'm sure you'll see Noctis before you see Des though."

She nods knowingly.

"Sapien's disappeared like he always does," Vires says with a shrug. "He's been busy the last week making all sorts of calls."

"I hope it's not serious," she says with genuine concern.

"He never stops to take a breathe," says Vires with another shrug. "Since Lux isn't going to be the baby anymore, Sapien's been busy building the nursery too."

"He's doing that too?" she asks.

"Isn't much he doesn't do," answers Vires, smiling down at her. "Now tell me what kind of girl your brother's marrying. Is she nice to you?"

She smiles at how protective he sounds and tells him about her brother's fiance the rest of the ride to the castle.

When they reached the castle, she had not known exactly what to expect but had already formed a pretty good idea how things might go. She already knew that Sapien would not meet her at the door. It was just not his way. The last time she had come, there really had not been anyone to greet her until Des had stumbled onto her and thought she was someone else. She would definitely not like to start off in that way again. Her first destination was going to be her rooms so that she could breathe and calm her shaking nerves. Then she was going to see Lux. She wanted to see just how he had grown since the infant she had seen a year ago. If he was the son of Stella and Noctis, there was no doubt that he was, then he would be walking already.

"You really don't have to carry all my bags, Vires," she protests as he somehow manages to keep a hold on all of them at once.

"Let me do this, Mira," he grunts. "They won't even let me drive a car nowadays. I can at least feel useless helping you with your bags."

She giggles at his reasoning and is forced to walk behind him as they make their way up the stairs to her usual rooms.

"What is Lux like now?" she asks. She had prepared for her visit with many gifts for the little prince and she was eager to see what he would like.

"If you let him, he'll run clear across the hall before you manage to catch him," says Vires with a face mixed with worry and pride. "Des has had to watch his mouth more because Lux will repeat certain words."

"He talks already?" she asks in surprise.

"One words here and there, but he's starting," answers Vires.

She didn't know too much about babies but she was sure that they didn't usually speak until after two.

"He's a little genius," states Vires with a grin. "Gets the jump on us all the time."

"I bet he does," she grins.

"You don't have to walk with me the whole way. I know you want to see everyone else," says Vires. "Go on ahead and say your hellos, Little One."

"No, I couldn't..."

"Go on," he answers with a jerk of his head. "I'll catch up with you later."

She could almost kiss his cheek in gratitude. Instead she gives him a grateful smile and walks as quickly as the bag she's holding will allow her. They had already reached her floor so she turns around to go back down the stairs. The last time Stella had been pregnant, they had prepared rooms on the ground floor for her. There was no reason to think it'd be different this time, so she goes to those rooms first. She had been just about to turn a corner to get to that wing of the house, when she heard two voices talking. The tones are a little hushed, so she stops just at the corner so as not to invade their moment. Then her heart pounds when she recognizes the two people that are speaking so quietly.

"So what kind of dress would you prefer I put on?" asks Procella.

It's a strange and not entirely appropriate question. Not only did the question sound very intimate, it was the tone in which Procella had asked it. It had sounded teasing and flirtatious. In a way you would not have used on someone who was an acquaintance, let alone a friend. It was a tone of a lover.

There is a pause as if there is some silent deliberating being done before she hears a response. She can almost feel the tension between them, though she can't actually see them standing together.

"I want you to put on one that has a long flowing skirt," Sapien's voice replies.

She has to almost slap a hand over her mouth to keep the gasp from escaping her mouth. He had, actually answered the question? Like it had been something they always talked about.

"I want to see the skirts to have creases as if a breeze has caught them," he finishes.

"Hair?" asks Procella in that same teasing and flirty tone.

She pictures the smile that must be on Procella's face.

"Down," he answers shortly. "I want it to be cascading down past the shoulders and along the back."

"So very well thought out," points out Procella in approval.

"I have pictured it in my head," he answers.

She can't hear anymore. Her legs take backward steps so she doesn't have to hear anymore of this conversation. It wasn't proper for her to eavesdrop. Let alone listen in on a conversation that was obviously supposed to be a private one. She turns around and when she feels its safe, makes a run for the door that would take her to the courtyard. It was the only way to get to Stella's rooms without having to pass the couple who were most likely continuing their conversation on what dress Sapien wanted Procella to wear for him. Most importantly it was outside. Outside meant air that had suddenly felt stuck in her throat. She could not breathe!

As if listening to them talking about something only a couple would talk about was not bad enough, what made it worse was how Sapien had spoken the last line. It had been in an almost breathy sort of voice as if he had not only pictured it, but he had dreamt of it in a very... descriptive way. There had been an actual emotion in his voice when he had said it. Not the usual dry, purposely toneless way he usually spoke. To think that he had used that tone while speaking to Procella. He had spoken with a depth of emotion that she has never heard in his voice. His voice was always the same except in that one line, in that one sentence. Her mind fills with images of what his face must have looked like when he had looked at Procella while saying the words. A loud gasping breathe escapes her lips then as she shakes her head to try and block that image out.

Her feet somehow get her through the courtyard and through the doors on the other side of the wing. Stella's rooms were only a few doors down now, but she could not face Stella now. She couldn't face anyone right now. Not when her heart felt like it had been ripped out of her chest. She's just surprised that there aren't tears streaming down her face already. Somehow they're stuck at the corners of her eyes. Stuck like the breath that she can't swallow. She bites her lip and wipes her eyes, because crying right now wasn't going to do her any good. It would only upset Stella to see her this way and she did not want Lux's first impressions of her to be of a red eyed banchee.

This didn't make any sense. There was no way that she had misread everything this entire year. The garden of lavender. The packages. Those things could not have been made up in her mind. Those things were real. Men just did not do things like that for someone that they didn't... but then, the card that had been delivered with the letter had not been signed. The packages always came without a return address. She had just assumed it was Sapien's doing. She's never even seen his handwriting before. What if it hadn't been him at all? What if it had been someone else and her own feelings clouded her from seeing it? What if her dream of him telling her she had already broken his heart was just the creations of a girl who was so in love, she was blind to everyone else? She feels like such a fool! With a shaky hand she reaches up and touches her forehead. Sapien clearly had feelings for Procella. So who had been the one sending her all those gifts?

"Heartbreaker!"

The shout is enough to startle her out of her miserable thoughts and look at the source.

"Des!" she cries in relief. If anyone had the ability to make her forget for a moment, it would be him.

She can't help the laugh when she sees him running like a fool towards her and reaches her arms out wide to hug him.

"You're going to have to stop getting more beautiful, Mira," he says with a shake of his head when they separate. "Or else I'm really going to think you're a maneater."

"You just had to bring that up again, didn't you?" she says rolling her eyes and giving him a punch on the arm.

"Ouch! Man, you got stronger too!" Des cries, while rubbing his arm. "What are you doing snooping around the hallways like that anyway? I'd say you were on the prowl for unsuspecting fellas like me."

"I was just soaking in the moment," she defends.

"Whatcha got there in the bag? Bow and arrow in there? Are you Cupid's lovely apprentice?"

"Right now it wouldn't be your heart I'd be aiming for," she threatens with a quirked lip. She adjusts the bag on her shoulder because she doesn't trust the look in his eye right now.

Des tilts his head with that mischievous grin that can only lead to trouble and it's the only warning she has before he snatches it from her shoulder and makes a mad dash for Stella's rooms.

She felt like she was fourteen all over again as she tries to rush up to him without running. Had she still been fourteen, she knows she would have dashed right after him, but not now.

"Noct! Stella! Little Misfit! The air's brought Cupid's apprentice bearing gifts!" cries Des as he makes his way into the rooms.

She reaches the doorway just after he finishes his announcement and sees the royal family together for the first time in a year. There are tears in her eyes again but they're of joy this time as she sees them sitting on the floor together. It looks as if they're in the middle of watching Lux as he places one block on top of another. Three pairs of eyes lift up to look at her at the same time.

"Mira!" cries Stella excitedly. She looks as pregnant as she had the last time too, only this time, there was one more to the party. Noctis is sitting right beside her and he smiles at her in greeting. She smiles back at the both of them before her wine colored eyes look down at the little one.

Lux blinks up at her with curious blue eyes. There is a block in his hand, poised just to place on the pile, but she's distracted him. He looks so much like Noctis that she thinks she really will look like a red faced banchee anyway. His hair is as wild as his father's. All black spikes that will never allow a brush to flatten them. He has the round chubby cheeks that only a baby can possess that make you want to kiss them just on reflex. They seem the only part of him that is chubby because he's very slim and she can tell from the length of his legs that he will be tall. He looks like he's taller than another baby his own age. In those curious blue eyes, she saw many things. A sharp intelligence and quick comprehension. An awareness that was rare in ones so young. He was Noctis, in baby form.

"Lunae," says Stella softly and those blue eyes leave hers to look at his mother. "This is Mira." Stella points a finger at her. "Can you say hello?"

It's something every parent says to their child when meeting someone new and she doesn't expect him to say hello. She smiles down at him before slowly lowering herself to sit in front of him instead. Not too close that it would scare him but not too far either. He does not say anything for several moments as he stares at her. It was a look she's seen on Noctis' face countless times. It was the look Noctis gave to people he was assessing.

"Lo' Mia," he says finally before placing the block on top of the pile carefully.

She's so stunned that she doesn't say anything back. At least, not until he looks back up at her as if he's not sure he's said the right thing.

"Hello Lux," she manages to say back.

He smiles at her before looking at his father and reaching out his arms to be held.

"Little Misfit!" cries Des and it startles her out of her amazement. "You're not going to ignore me. I have gifts!"

"You mean, Mira brought gifts," corrects Noctis as he lifts Lux in his arms.

"Oh Mira, you really should not have," says Stella with a motherly smile on her face.

"Of course I had to," she replies with a grin. "Who else am I going to spoil?"

"He gets spoiled enough," says Noctis. Father and son have mirroring looks as he and Lux stare at each other. "But I think that your Aunt Mira has gotten you just the thing."

Lux merely smiles in response and looks at his mother. His small hand reaches for Stella but not for her to take him. Stella seems to know this already because she merely reaches over and takes his small hand in hers on Noctis' shoulder. His other small hand was curled loosely against Noctis' neck. It looks like he needed to feel a connection with both parents at the same time He was definitely a Mama's Boy though. She could tell from the way he seemed to have a special smile just for his mother.

"Okay, I got one here. Who is this for Heartbreaker?" asks Des as he rummages through the bag. It must be a common thing because Des doesn't seem to even notice.

"Des, not in front of Lunae," says Stella.

"We would not want Lux to repeat anymore of your nicknames," states Noctis and he and Stella both give Des a knowing look.

"Heh," Des says, looking bashful but they all know he's going to slip again.

"Des!"

"Yes, Little Misfit," answers Des, looking at Lux.

There is the crunching sound of a diaper as Lux scrambles out of his father's arms and maneuvers himself to his feet.

"Careful, luv," says Stella but she doesn't look too worried as she watches him.

When he is finally upright, Lux hobbles his way over to Des and lands in his lap.

"Trying to get to the gifts first eh? I'm on to you, Little Man," Des jokes as he grins down at Lux.

Lux makes a gurgling noise and slobber is his response to Des' accusation.

"You drool machine!" cries Des with a laugh as he picks Lux up and takes a nearby blanket to wipe it off his legs. "I bet you came over here cause you need your diaper changed too."

Lux hiccups a laugh.

"You did!" cries Des. "You little rascal!"

"Give him to me, Des," says Noctis as he appears beside them. "You'll end up getting the diaper stuck to you instead of him again."

"I do it that one time, okay maybe more than once and now nobody trusts me," complains Des, handing Lux back to Noctis.

Lux pats Des' face before reaching out to his father and all three disappear into the other room to get him changed. She watches them go before turning her beaming eyes to Stella.

"Oh Stella, he's wonderful," she says.

"Oh right now he is," laughs Stella as she rubs her hand over her rounded stomach. "You should see when he is upset."

"Is he a screamer?"

"No," Stella answers with a shake of her head. "He does not cry that much, but he does know how to throw a fit. Just like Noctis."

She can't even imagine how Noctis could. He was always so level headed.

"It is only Noctis that can really calm him down when he gets that way," complains Stella, but she has a wistful look on her face. "Do not even get me started when he and Des are alone."

Now that was something she could picture.

"They are going to be awhile," whispers Stella conspiratorially. "So you must catch me up on your life."

She can feel the happiness from earlier fade as she remembers what she had been wanting to tell Stella before. Before she had heard...

"What is it, Honey?" Stella asks leaning closer to her in worry. "Did something horrible happen?"

Yes.

"No, just..." she does not know how to answer that. "I think I'm weary from my trip."

"I feel like such an improper hostess to you," says Stella as if she's mentally berating herself. "I ask you to come all the way over here to keep me company and then do not even consider your needs when you are here."

"No, I wouldn't want you to worry about me," she answers quickly. "It's my fault. I didn't give myself any chances to rest on the way over here."

"Of course you should be tired," answers Stella. "It is already late in the evening. Which reminds me that Lunae needs to be put to bed."

"What time does he need to be asleep?"

"Before now usually," Stella answers with a smile. "We were waiting for you to come. I have been telling him all about you all day."

"I'm sure he didn't understand what you were going on about," she smiles.

"Oh, you can never underestimate him," warns Stella. "We show him pictures of all of you regularly and talk of you too. So he is familiar with you."

"That wasn't really necessary."

"Noctis and I think so," says Stella. "We want him to know who he can trust. If anything happened to me or Noctis, Lunae would know who would be the ones to cry to."

"Nothing is going to happen to either you or Noctis," she says in protest.

"Still," says Stella. "Noctis, has never gotten over the early loss of his parents. He had not had any older figure to guide him and it still affects him. At least with Lunae, he will have that."

It is a very sad thought, but it made sense. Noctis was ever rational and very deep. She knows there was nothing he would not do to save his son from having to grow up as he had been forced to.

"But enough of that," says Stella with a little shake. "Have you seen Procella?"

She almost blanches at the mention and just barely keeps her expression neutral.

"No, I have not seen her yet," she answers. She hadn't seen Procella, only heard her voice.

"She said Sapien had to talk to her," Stella continues on, missing the pained expression on her face. "They have been doing that a lot."

"What?"

"Talking, but they will not tell me what about," answers Stella with a distracted look on her face. "They are up to something."

"What makes you think that?" she asks and she can't even stop her voice from sounding deflated.

"Procella always comes back with a smirk on her face," explains Stella.

She didn't think she could feel anymore low, but she's proven wrong when she sinks further at those words.

"I am sure they are not doing anything wrong," she reassures.

"I have half a mind to have you ask her, Mira," Stella says with a smile at her.

"Neither one of them would tell me," she answers quickly. Neither one of them were the kind of people that told just anyone their secrets. Definitely not something as personal as clothing preferences.

"Are you sure you are all right?" asks Stella with a worried frown.

She feigns a yawn to try and give herself the excuse. "I'm sorry. I don't know where my energy has gone," she says apologetically.

"No need to apologize. Of course you are tired and here I go, rambling on about things I am sure you do not have an interest in."

"Oh, no. You've gotten me curious too. I just wish I could help you figure it out."

Stella smiles at her. That kind and motherly smile that she loves to see. Only, she realizes now that she won't ever be able to tell Stella about her feelings about Sapien. It wouldn't be any use to. It would just make everyone awkward and she would hate to do that to them.

"Off you go then, Dear," says Stella, shooing her with her arms. "We shall gossip and giggle about everything tomorrow."

She manages a tired but grateful smile. Leaning over she kisses Stella's cheek like the little girl she used to be and quietly leaves the room.

Given the time of night and how dark it was outside, it would have been safer to go straight through the halls. But to go that way would mean that she would have to pass that corner. Pass that corner where she had heard one secret conversation that had turned her world upside down. She can't take the thought of it and rushes outside and through the courtyard. Taking two steps at a time, she rushes up the main stairwell and doesn't even stop for breathe until she is pushing open her door and shutting it swiftly behind her.

The room fills with her hysterical breathes as she clutches her heart to keep it from leaping out of her chest. How very wrong she had been. It's not even in her to be jealous. She just feels so stupid for assuming when it wasn't smart to assume. That is all she had done this whole year. Assumed that it had been Sapien sending her these gifts. It was obvious that he wasn't the one who did. He wouldn't when he obviously had feelings for Procella and why wouldn't he? Procella was beautiful in an enchanting way. She could be icy, but she wasn't really that way. Not once you got to know her and how much she really did care. Compared to Procella, she was a clumsy frump who did not even deserve to stand next to such loveliness. Of course he would want someone like that before he would want someone like her. She is so thankful that she never called or wrote or sent a package of her own! What would Sapien have said if she had? At least, she can be relieved about that.

Slowly, as if being guided, she walks over to one of her suitcases and opens the zipper. Carefully, she lifts a wrapped up cloth and unties the ends. Unfolding it, she stares down at the figurine. Hair the same purple of her own with a bouquet of lavender in its hands. Did it matter that this, something she still felt was so precious, was not from the man that she loved? Did it change how she felt about it?

She can honestly answer both. Yes, it did matter that it wasn't from him. No, it didn't change that she still loved it.


	2. Erratum

A/N: I'm happy to see that there is an interest in this story when I hadn't thought there would be much. It still makes me nervous in a way, but it's been nice to write something that deals with just drama instead of figuring out how to combine it with complex storylines. Since my routine was trampled by a brain dead printer, there will mostly likely be errors that I would normally be able to catch. So please excuse those. I want to give a special thanks to **BitterCocoa **for your infectious enthusiasm for this ship.

Erratum is Latin for "mistake."

_**Chapter Two: Erratum**_

The sun that rose the following morning was bright and cheerful and everything she was not. Her eyes were slow to open and the captivating way the morning rays had peaked through her drawn curtains were lost on them. They were open unseeing. She's thankful that at least she was spared a dream about the events of the day before. In fact, she doesn't remember even having a dream at all. It's pointless to wish that yesterday had been the dream. She knows her imagination was vivid at times but there was no way she could have imagined Lux to be so sharp and so adorable. She most definitely could not have made up the other things she had the day before. When her eyes did focus, they had fallen upon the little figurine she had placed on the lamp table she was facing.

The tears hadn't come the night before. They still haven't come, two days later. She's not sure why. It was the perfect opportunity to shed a few. She has certainly been sad enough since that day to shed them, but they haven't fallen. Strange, when she usually had no problem producing tears at every other emotional situation. She had only just stopped herself from bawling like an idiot when she had witnessed Noctis and Stella's poignant moment with Lux. She fights them every time she watches them together. It didn't make any sense. Maybe she was in shock. Maybe it was the denial that kept them from escaping her eyes. But she's not in denial. She's already accepted that Procella was better than her in every way and a much better choice for a man like Sapien. Procella wasn't fanciful. Procella wasn't emotional and she's sure Procella knew how to be calm when she had never been able to master that control very well.

Then there were the other things too. Procella was a mature woman who knew the world and knew how to handle her duties. She had a long standing legacy to uphold and she was proud. She should be proud. There were a lot of things for her to choose from to be proud. It was the maturity part that did her in. Procella was probably around the same age as Sapien and her body was a woman's body too. So of course, she would look fantastic in whatever clothes Sapien wanted her to wear for him. Procella glided. She didn't just walk. There was nothing awkward about her. She was always the picture of grace. Even Stella lamented once that she felt like a klutz compared to Procella's graceful form. If Stella felt that way, what was she supposed to feel like in comparison?

Her feelings while talking to Procella the last couple days had been of awed sadness. Awe because Procella struck awe in everyone. She was so icy but there was just something about her that attracted the eye. Sadness because there was no way she could be like that. She found herself watching Procella whenever they were together. Watched her in a way she hadn't before. She was watching her now with a new awareness because she saw all the things that she lacked in a woman. Worse still was that Procella has never and was never unkind to her. They had never been close but she always found an affection in Procella's gaze whenever they spoke. So it hadn't been extremely difficult to take to the older woman. It wasn't her fault that she was the source of her sadness.

There was Stella, who much like the last time, has not been able to move around too much. Though this time she doesn't complain about hard kicks that make her feel as if she's some sort of kickboxing mannequin from the inside. Stella was calm as she always was and happy. Her glow was radiant and her happiness made it very hard to be sad about her broken little heart. It was a good thing that she had a year's worth of stories to tell her or else she's not sure she could have spoken to Stella about anything but Sapien. Both Stella and Noctis were proud of her like two parents would be when they heard her telling them about all the things that she's been doing.

Lux had spent the last two days watching her in that assessing way that Noctis looked at someone he didn't know he could trust. His striking blue eyes seemed to read her as she would sit with him. In her haste that first night, she had forgotten about her gifts for them. When she remembered them the next morning, she was surprised to find that nobody had opened their gifts. She would have thought Lux would have at least tried to demolish the bag out of sheer baby curiosity. But she found out very quickly that he was not a typical baby. After an hour of watching her, he must have finally decided on her and they have been friends. He'd reached out his arms to her in a silent request for her to carry him and he had smiled a quiet little smile that told her he liked her. He was a heavy little thing though and even in the arms of someone, he was always moving. His spiky hair flicked this way and that as his eyes looked around to see everything. After two days of holding him for long periods of time, she feels a soreness in her biceps now. She couldn't resist him though, even when it seemed like her arms would fall off from holding him. When he looked at you with those eyes, you just had to do it. He also didn't mind when she did give in and kiss his chubby cheeks. Actually, it looked like he liked it when she did. He always gave her a grin when she did. She was endlessly fascinated with him. From the way he would mumble in his baby speech mixed with words that she could understand, she would see that a conversation was possible with him. He had ways of saying everyone's name, which was a little tricky because he didn't say them right. The only one that he seemed to have mastered was Des, but she thinks that has more to do with it being so easy to say.

Lux was the best person to distract her from thinking about Sapien. There was Des and Vires too, but they were often busy. Though Des found more time for her than Vires did. If not Lux, then Des would be a good distraction. At least with Des, she could joke around and hit and make witty remarks to. He was the only one that she could be that way with and he always made her laugh. He made her laugh so hard, even when he wasn't even trying to and it felt so good to laugh. If she couldn't cry, at least she could laugh. Laughing was much better than feeling so dejected thinking about how much better Procella was to her.

Sapien had been the only person that she hadn't seen the past two days that she'd been here. Des had mentioned he was called to see Tonitrus about a problem they were having with a glitch in their systems. Who better than Sapien to help solve that problem for them? He was not expected back for another week. A week that should give her enough time to settle herself and except that he didn't love her like she had thought he did. She was just glad that he had gotten a chance to see Procella before he had left. It would have hurt her to know that he couldn't see that special person before he was to be taken away. As much as she longed to be that special person, she wouldn't ever have wished something to tear them apart like that without a good bye. A week was a long time for two people in love, wasn't it?

"Stella, are you here?" Noctis' voice says from the doorway.

She and Stella were watching Lux stare at the various pieces of cereal that he had spilled onto the table in order to get a better look at them. He seemed to have a particular shape that he preferred to eat first. They had been watching as he'd just picked up another shape and was in the middle of looking at it closely, when the sound of his father's voice distracts him.

"Yes, I am here," answers Stella easily. She always had such a shining smile when Noctis was around.

They had been married for almost seven years now and to still see the look of a newlywed on Stella's face was a thing of beauty. It is made even more so when you see Noctis' responding smile at her. He gives her a significant stare before his red eyes settle on their son.

"And what have we decided on today, Dark Prince?" he asks Lux, kneeling down beside him to study the different shapes.

"Dat," answers Lux, thrusting out his hand to show Noctis which piece he's chosen.

"And what shape is that?" Noctis asks with an encouraging smile.

"Star," answers Lux as he puts it into his mouth.

"That's my boy," responds Noctis as he ruffles Lux's spikes affectionately. Then he looks up at Stella. "Would you like to go on an outing with me, Bright Star?"

"An outing?" asks Stella so excitedly that she sounds breathless. "Where?"

"Wherever you wish to go," he answers with a smile. "As long as you are with me."

She beams at the both of them, excited for their sake.

"Are we to take Lunae with us?" asks Stella.

"Shall we ask him?" Noctis responds as he looks back at Lux. "Will you be our chaperone, Lunae?"

Lux blinks up at him as if he's actually thinking it over before he shakes his head and looks back down to carefully select his next piece.

"There, we shall be alone," answers Noctis. He has a smirk on his face that means he had worded his question so that Lux would answer no on purpose.

"I can watch Lux," she offers.

"Are you sure, Mira?" asks Stella, placing a hand on hers. "I could always get one of the nurses or Procella. No... she said she had something to do this afternoon."

"Yes, I'd love to watch him for the afternoon," she says cheerfully. "I wouldn't pass it up for anything."

Stella still looks a little hesitant, which she doesn't get offended about in the least. She can tell that it's not for lack of trust but the desire to stay with Lux.

"Lux and I are friends," she continues. "If we have any trouble, I'm sure Noctis will know and be here in a blink."

Very literally. They all knew that.

"Well then that settles it," says Stella with a happy smile. She moves to get up, compelling her and Noctis to help her get to her feet. "This is the one thing I do not look forward to about being pregnant. I will soon not be able to see my feet and I will only get bigger."

"I like you this way," comments Noctis. "These are the only times I can keep track of you."

Stella gives him a huffy sort of look that doesn't look convincing. Trust Noctis not to say something ridiculously flowery about loving big bellies and swollen feet. Which is good because Stella was the type that would have been upset with him if he did.

"Lunae," Stella calls and he looks up at her while sucking on the latest chosen piece. "Mama and papa are going out for a bit. Will you stay with Mia while we are away?"

Blue eyes blink up at Stella and nod before turning to look at her.

"Yes," he answers shortly.

"All right," answers Stella and kisses Mira on the forehead. "Thank you, sweetie." Then she reaches down to Lux and he immediately reacts by reaching up for her. When she lifts him up, he already knows to kiss her.

"I need a good bye as well," comments Noctis with a smirk, but Lux has a serious face when he reaches over and kisses his father too.

"See ya!" cries Lux as Stella puts him down again.

"Good bye," says Stella with a laugh and looks up at her with a grateful smile and wave.

Both Stella and Noctis take one last lingering look at their son before they each smile at her and disappear behind the door. Which left her completely alone with a too brilliant for his own good, completely fascinating toddler. It was going to be a very interesting afternoon. Especially when he looks up at her with those entreating blue eyes and hands her a star shaped piece of the cereal to eat with him. She doesn't even try to hesitate as she kindly takes it with a thank you and puts the cereal in her mouth.

It's not long before the food grows boring to Lux and he ventures over to another part of the room. He seems to be looking for something in particular because he passes several toys without a backward glance.

"What are you looking for, Lux?" she asks, walking closer to him.

"Book," he answers simply and crawls underneath a dresser to check.

"Now, now," she says, dragging him out again.

"Book," he says again.

Seeing as his usual books are already on the floor, it only meant one book in particular. Thank goodness she knew which one he was talking about. It had been one of her gifts for him. A very detailed pop up book with pictures of all the lands of the Crystal Bearers. She had worked on it meticulously for three months to get it just right and had it bound like a storybook just for Lux. As soon as he had seen the pictures fly out at him as if alive, he had been utterly enthralled. He had looked at each page with new fascination in his wide eyes and had talked in his baby speech like a commentary. How he remembered it was something of itself too. He had only looked through it twice before Stella had worried that he would tear something out. So she had sent it to Lux's newly finished rooms upstairs. Up two flights of stairs and directly across the hall from where Noctis and Stella slept when she was not as pregnant as she was.

"Book!" Lux cries again and he looks on the verge of a meltdown.

"Now, you know what your mother said about the book," she tries to explain. She even tries to show him another but he merely throws it and cries again. Not even an hour and she's already gotten him riled up enough for his fit.

"Sailin'," he says. "Book!"

"Sailing?" she asks a little confused. How did Lux know about sailing? She doesn't have any time to think that over because he's look on the verge of an explosion. She's not a very good nanny if she can't handle this, but right now she's going to take the easy way out. "Let's go get the book, Lux!" She says it cheerfully and with her arms reaching out to lift him.

He blinks at her as if he doesn't quite believe her just yet but he reaches up for her anyway.

"Do you remember where we left it?" she asks, making her way into the hall with a good grip on him.

"No," he answers with a shake of his head.

"It means we have to go up the stairs," she answers.

He doesn't respond, but twists and turns his head around to take a look at everything as she walks. His small hands trustingly hold onto her shoulder as he moves his head to see the various things aligning the hallways. She half hopes he'll forget where they're going by what he sees. But he doesn't say anything about stopping until he sees the stairs. Then he pushes against her to let him down and scrambles to the first step.

"Lux," she warns, but he merely smiles up at her mischievously and starts to climb his way on all fours. She tries to lift him again but he makes a sound of protest which nearly has him stumbling on a step. So she has no choice but to decide he's safer climbing the steps on his own. At least he wasn't flying down the stairs. He seems to be an expert by the way he does it so steadily and quickly so she doesn't feel too worried before she get an idea of her own. "Done this before have you? Well I will have you know I am quite good at climbing the stairs like that too."

She gets down on all fours just beside him and gives him a grin. He blinks three times before he seems to understand her and laughs. Then makes to climb faster. They both race up the rest of the way and she thinks she's thoroughly winded by the time they reach the right floor. She collapses dramatically while carefully rolling him beside her safely on the floor. He squeals in delight, not the least bit winded and starts to push himself to his feet. With a quick sigh, she's on her feet too and taking his hand to walk hand in hand to his new rooms.

When she had first entered his rooms, the day before, she was immediately awestruck at how well detailed it had been. The design of the rooms had been put together by Stella, Noctis and Sapien. They had hired an artist to come in and paint various murals along the walls. When she had asked Stella where they were supposed to picture, she had answered with a smile and said, Tenebrae. She had only been to Tenebrae once, but the landscape in the murals was from a small place that Stella had visited a few times when she was younger. It made her smile in agreement that Stella would bring something of her own home into the room of her son. Of course he would need to know both. Everything else was what they stamped as "Lux proof", from the furniture to the height of the crib. Even the cords of the lamps. There were other security features that had been added to the room but she didn't know the details of that. Neither did Stella but she trusted Sapien enough to know he would have put in whatever measures that would be necessary to protect Lux if anything should happen. They were never too cautious when it came to threats or any kind of attempts at kidnapping the pride of Nihilsomno. For there were still many that opposed the power of the Crystal Bearers. Many dwelt in secret and they were all ever mindful of that fact.

As soon as they had reached his rooms, Lux had let go of her hand to make his way to where he must have remembered the book was placed. When he caught sight of it, he had given a triumphant laugh and pointed at it for her to look at it with him as she had when she had first given it to him. So she settled on the carpet and he climbed onto her lap, allowing her to open the cover and revealing the vibrant images reaching out for him.

"Now, this one here is Infervesco," she says in a cheerful voice. "Do you see how big the trees are? They reach up and up into the sky." She emphasizes with a high reach of her arms and even though she knows he doesn't understand, he still follows her hand to the ceiling before looking back down at the trees in the pictures before him. As he turns to the next page she can't help but to inhale his baby scent and smile, before she starts to tell him about Solis.

After looking at the book three more times, he seems to tire of that too and crawls over to a pile of blocks. She crawls after him until they're sitting face to face and helps him as he puts the blocks together. They have four stacked together before he knocks them away.

"Sailin!" he cries excitedly and scrambles onto her lap.

"You want to go sailing?" she asks, trying to manage his excited little body as he tries to climb up her shoulders.

"Sailin!"

"Um, I'm not sure..."

"He means me," a voice says behind him, scaring her so badly that she nearly falls backwards when Lux pushes at her shoulders again.

She manages to twist her upper body so that she can look up and meets the careful stare that she has missed so much.

"Hello Mira," he says in that same tone he used that same day Des had mistook her for his new conquest.

"Sa..."

"Sailin!" shouts Lux again as he reaches his arms out for Sapien to hold him.

Sapien's eyes soften as they look at Lux.

"Hello there, Moonlight," he answers, kneeling down and gently taking Lux from her arms. "Did you miss me?"

"Yes!" shouts Lux happily as he tries to make a grab at Sapien's glasses.

"Now, now," he says patiently, reaching to take his glasses from Lux's small hands. "You know I can't see."

Lux responds with a bubbly laugh and tugs harder, managing to take the frames off Sapien's face.

Sapien gives him a challenging look which has Lux laughing even louder in delight. It's the first time she's ever seen him without his glasses and she finds it doesn't matter. With or without, he was still Sapien and she loved everything about him. It was just, more personal that he didn't have them on now.

"You gonna let go of that?" Sapien asks Lux gently.

"No!" shouts Lux as he starts wiggling his body to be let back down.

There's amusement in Sapien's eyes as he lets him down with a swat on Lux's bottom. He doesn't issue another protest as Lux smudges his fingerprints all over the lenses and walks to her front again.

"Does he do that often?" she asks, watching Lux play with the glasses.

"Only when Stella isn't around," is the dry response.

It makes her chuckle as they both keep their eyes on Lux. They watch quietly as Lux starts to blink slowly.

"Like a clock, that one," mutters Sapien quietly. He's so close behind her that she can feel his breathe on her shoulder.

Lux blinks even slower and reaches out to hand the frames to her. When Sapien moves to take it, he snatches his hand away with a quick shake of his head before motion to her again. Sapien lets out a quiet chuckle as he retreats and lets her take the glasses from Lux. Once she has them, Lux yawns loudly and rubs his eyes. It looks like he's fighting to stay awake, but ends up slowly lowering himself to the floor and falls asleep.

"Right on time," whispers Sapien knowingly, before he moves and carefully lifts Lux to lay him inside the crib.

She smiles at the both of them as she huffs into the smudgy lenses and wipes them with the edges of her skirt. Looking through the lenses, she still sees a few streaks and huffs into them again. She's getting the last smudges off while she moves to stand before turning and almost slams right into him as she does.

"Oh!" she cries in surprise and covers her mouth before shooting a glance at Lux in the crib.

Lux doesn't even stir and she lets out a sigh of relief. Then looks up with a smile at Sapien's careful gaze. He doesn't make a reach for the glasses in her hands, just continues to look down at her. So on impulse she reaches up to slowly and carefully slide them back onto his face. He tenses visibly and his eyes turn a little guarded when her hands are on either sides of his face. It's all she can do not to let the smile drop from her face. She immediately feels sorry for making him feel uncomfortable and takes a step back.

"It looks like they'll live to fight another day," she comments, acting as if she were checking for more smudges.

"I'm glad," he answers in his usual dry way.

It relieves her to hear it. It meant all was all right again.

"Because these would be the fifth pair he'd have broken," he states. He doesn't even look upset about it.

She lets out a soft giggle.

"I didn't know you were going to be back so soon," she says.

"It wasn't as big a problem as they made it out to be," he shrugs. "Besides, it was important that I get back here quickly."

"I'm sure you have a lot of things you have to do, like always," she agrees.

"Maybe we should step outside," he whispers, looking over at the crib.

"I wouldn't feel comfortable if we went too far," she hesitates.

"Not to worry," he says. "I have a mic in the room."

"You... you do?" she asks and she can feel a blush coming on.

"It activates whenever Lux enters the room," he answers, pushing a few buttons on his handheld before putting it in his pocket.

So, he had been listening when she and Lux had been playing earlier...oh, yes, she was definitely turning a shade of red.

"What else do you have to keep track of Lux?" she asks, afraid to hear what else he was going to tell her. At least she would know now to be careful.

"The entire castle is honed to his presence," he answers smoothly and he doesn't seem to notice how badly she's blushing. "It's a tracking system that we designed using Noct and Stella's Crystals. Since Lux is their heir, he has an essence of Crystal within him that the sensors around the castle can follow."

"Is that why he's always looking around?" she asks, recalling how many times he had to look about them as they walked the halls. She finds herself looking at things more closely in the hallway they're standing in to see if she can sense them too.

"Probably," answers Sapien with a proud look on his face. "He's got some really good instincts."

"So, what exactly is it that activates when he gets close to the sensors?"

"If he's not where he's supposed to be, I'm alerted."

That was a great deal more watching than she had imagined, but she understood the necessity. True, Stella and Noctis would feel it as soon as something was wrong with Lux, but it didn't hurt to have a back up. Who better than Sapien to be just that.

"I know it sounds a little paranoid," he explains, misreading the look on her face.

"No, no that's not it at all," she says with a shake of her head. "I'm just, just so impressed with how much you have to keep track of and handle all at the same time."

"It's not all that difficult," he states with a shrug but she knows he's trying to downplay his role.

"If all that isn't difficult, then what is for you?" she asks curiously.

He looks like there was an immediate answer to that but he stops it from coming out.

"Oh there you are!" says a cheerful voice that she knows is not always so. A moment later and she sees Procella glide into view. "Oh! Oh, Mira. I did not see you there. Is Lux all right?"

"He's napping," she says uneasily and looks up at Sapien.

He's looking at Procella and then at her as if he's suddenly uncomfortable again. There was a strain in his eyes that she's never seen before.

"Did you need me for something?" he asks Procella and his voices sounds a little too careful.

"Why yes I do," Procella answers cheekily, before she turns kind eyes down to her. The kind look in Procella's eyes somehow makes her feel even lower. That Procella wouldn't even feel inclined to be jealous about finding Sapien alone with her in a quiet hallway, sent a shot to her heart. "My dear Mira, would you mind if I borrowed our most reliable Sapien here? I have certain news about something."

"Of, of course not," she stammers to answer. "Borrow him as long as you like."

Procella actually chuckles at the comment.

"I'll see you later, Mira," says Sapien with a small smile at her.

She forces a smile to her face and nods.

"Okay," she replies dumbly.

Then watches as they both walk away together. Sapien reaches into his pocket and takes out his handheld as if to read an incoming message. Then they're at the staircase and out of her sights.

As she stands there, heart in her throat, she kicks herself for not preparing herself for this. Of course she would see something like this. It was bound to happen sooner or later and more than once. She doubts it'll be the last time. Sapien's quick response to go with Procella was even further proof that he preferred the enchanting beauty to tomboyish her. Those mics in Lux's room would have told him that she was still that little girl who loved to play around with Des. He would have heard her or maybe even seen her racing up those stairs on all fours with a toddler. How.. no, why would he want that compared to someone who was always mature and poised? Again, she wonders where her tears are. She can feel her eyes prickle but none fall out of her eyes.

She needed to focus, focus, focus. There was a sleeping baby in the room in front of her. He needed someone to watch over him and his parents were trusting her with his care. She could worry about her horrible misguided love life when she was off duty and in her own rooms. With a firm nod, she steps away from the wall she was leaning against and quietly reentered Lux's rooms to wait for him to wake up.

When she arrived at dinner that same evening, it was a stunned awkward moment when she realized that it was only going to be her, Sapien, Procella and Vires that would be eating. Des, it seemed, had a date while the Royal three were going to spend the evening together since Stella was tired from her date with Noctis. Vires had escorted her down so that meant it had been her choice of whether she should sit beside Procella on one side or beside Sapien on the other. It hadn't helped that Procella made no motion for her to sit in either, merely waited for her with her usual stare. It was completely to be her choice. Maybe it was selfishness on her part, but she choose to sit across from Sapien, beside Procella, who was sitting directly across from him. Which meant that she could easily see him. That was the reasoning anyway, but she found she couldn't stomach catching the way he would most likely look at Procella from across the table. She can hear that breathless tone in his voice from that day around the corner in her mind and she could feel her shoulders slouch.

She found she could not directly speak to him, let alone look at him with those thoughts in her head. So that meant that most of her gaze and her words were directed to Vires. Which was just as well, she supposes, since Sapien would most likely desire to keep his attention on Procella instead. She couldn't endure an entire evening like this. Not without the distraction of Lux and Des. So when dinner was over and she could push her food around her plate no more, she excused herself before anyone could suggest an activity to pass away the rest of the evening.

"I'll take you back to your rooms then," offers Sapien and she doesn't even try to hide her surprise.

"No," interrupts Vires. "You finally managed to get a night off. I have a few things I have to check near Mira's rooms. I can take her. You enjoy your evening."

"A night off," she can't help repeating and forces a smile on her face. "Then you should definitely not waste it walking me all the way back to my rooms."

Of course he'd want to spend it with someone special. She gives him the most cheerful smile that she can muster before smiling up at Vires gratefully for saving her.

"Shall we?" she asks him. To which he responds with a smile and offers his arm. It's a struggle not to take one last lingering look at Sapien but she can't trust herself not to show what she was really feeling. She can't even trust herself to speak. It's only once they were a distance away from the dining all that Vires speaks.

"What is it, Little One?" he asks in concern.

"It's nothing," but it doesn't even sound convincing to her.

"You looked like Sapien's hurt you. Did he?"

"What?" she asks a little taken aback. She'd been obvious when she was trying so hard not to be. "Why would you think that?"

"You looked and acted like you didn't want to be near him. You hardly said a full sentence to him the whole dinner."

Which was true, but she hadn't done it on purpose.

"Sapien's never done anything to hurt me," she answers. Not purposely, but she doesn't want to tell Vires that.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, positive," she answers honestly. She looks up to meet Vires' searching look and she can tell that he's not completely convinced, but he's a little satisfied. "Please don't ask him anything either. He's really done nothing wrong. If anyone's to blame it's me."

"Why you?" he asks, like a brother who can't imagine his perfect little baby sister could do anything wrong. It tempts a smile from her.

"I've been silly and I'm beginning to feel stupid by just how much."

"You've never been silly and you've always had the right mind."

_Right now, I'm losing my mind_, she thinks.

"I feel a little sad, I guess and I'm taking it out on the wrong people," she sighs with a pause. "I wanted to grow up so quickly and now I don't think I'm ready to be so grown up."

"Then you'd be as frosty as Procella," he states disapprovingly. "You're wonderful as you are, Little One."

"I wish I could be more like Procella," she replies. "Poised, graceful and beautiful."

"You mean cold, sarcastic and prickly," corrects Vires and she gets the feeling those were the more pleasant words he can come up with to describe Procella.

She frowns. "But she's beautiful," she says.

"Beautiful doesn't cover up the things that matter," says Vires. "I wouldn't try imitating her example."

_But she's the one that he wants_, she wants to say.

"I'm tired," she says. "Maybe racing Lux up the stairs was not a good idea. Especially after having to hold him for so long." She can feel her knees berating her for abusing them.

"You raced him up the stairs?" Vires asks with a grin.

"I needed to entertain him," she explains. "So I pulled up my skirts and got down to his level to race him."

Vires laughs so loud that it echoes in the long halls. "I would've loved to have seen that!"

"Really childish thing to do now that I think about it," she winces.

"Stuff childish, that must have been fun."

"It was," she answers, but that doesn't mean she doesn't regret it.

"Now I can understand why you feel tired," he says and he looks completely convinced now.

They've reached her rooms now and he stops to look down at her.

"We need you here," he says. "Someone who isn't afraid to forget to be so stiff and serious and know when to play. Castle could use someone with more life now that Stella needs to stay put."

That makes her smile a real smile. She appreciates the compliment.

"You're too kind to me, thank you," she says and he pats her head affectionately like a little child, which makes her giggle despite herself. "Good night."

"Good night, Little One," he responds, walking steadily away. She watches him walk back the way they had come and smiles gratefully at his back because she knows he didn't really have anything to check. He had sensed her unease and knew she needed to be away from Sapien. Despite his gruff and imposing demeanor, Vires was a softie. Only, he was a softie for a selective number of people.

The next week, she saw very little of Sapien. Sometimes they bumped into each other in the halls on her way to see Stella and Lux. They talked briefly before she gave excuses about seeing to something Stella and Lux needed. He wasn't always at dinner but she figured that was because Procella had been called back to Glacialis and would not be returning until after Stella was expected to give birth. She saw even less of him after that. For two weeks he was called away to handle something for Stella in Tenebrae.

She thought that it would get easier. That as she got used to being here and seeing less of him, it'd be easier to get over her feelings. But it only got worse. She missed seeing him at random times. She missed hearing his dry comments. She missed that careful look that seemed to read so much yet seemed to miss what her own look said. In the month that she'd been here, she missed him more terribly than the year, plus that she'd been so far away from him. She was hopeless. It didn't help her, even when she kept herself busy. She'd spend most of her time being with Lux and Stella. Then she'd spend time with Des and Vires. She's even made sure to stick with her tradition of bringing Stella flowers every day. Something Lux seemed to look forward to as well since he liked to pluck the pedals and throw them about the room. Considering the mess, she was going to stop when Stella told her the mess was nothing and had asked if she could keep bringing them anyway.

Her favorite place was still the garden, but she stayed away from the lavender. It was too painful to be around them. Not when she thought of her own garden back home. Not when they reminded her so much of him, even though it seemed a certainty now that he hadn't even sent them. Which left her with another dilemma. Who had been the one sending her those gifts? It wasn't Des. He still couldn't remember her favorite flavor of ice cream, though he did remember that she liked ice cream. It wasn't Vires because as sweet as he was to her, he wasn't _that_ sweet. It would've been completely out of character and completely out of the realms of their brother/sister relationship. She knows that Des and Vires would have written letters. They wrote brief ones to her from time to time. So it wasn't either one of them.

She thinks of all the men she knew and couldn't think of a single one that would be capable of sending her such thoughtful, clever gifts. Well except... but that was... well she hoped it wasn't him. Especially after he'd told her outright that he only thought of her as a little sister. But she had a horrifying moment when she realized that if it wasn't Sapien then he was the only other option. _Sol_. Sol was the only man that was clever enough, creative enough and knowledgeable enough. He'd been with her on all those trips where Sapien hadn't. He could have easily guessed that she preferred lavender since he had been with her that day as she had been sitting among them. Sol was also very stubborn and once he was fixated on something, he went after it with a single minded determination. She'd seen him do it. He'd risked his life by defying Noctis by pursuing Stella right in front of his face and shamelessly at that.

The thought that it could be Sol made her insides churn and not in a good way. While a part of her was flattered, the rest of her firmly rejected him. There was no way, no way on this planet that she would ever return those feelings. She fervently hoped it wasn't Sol, but if it wasn't Sapien, he was the only other possible person. She thought she was going to be sick.

"Mira?" the sound of her own name startles her so much, she almost drops what she's holding.

"Yes, Stella," she answers, turning to see a curious look on Stella's face. She had been absently folding blankets while her thoughts ran wild.

"Are you all right?" Stella asks, holding a fussy Lux in her arms.

"Yes, just distracted. Did you need something?"

Stella seems to hesitate as she watches her. There's the question in her eyes but she doesn't ask it. "Lunae is demanding his book again," Stella finally says apologetically. "Would you mind going to his rooms to get it for me?"

"Of course not," she answers quickly and rushes over to the door.

"You do not have to rush so, Honey!" Stella calls after her.

No, she needed to do a little rushing to get those dreadful thoughts out of her head. She takes a breathe and tries to think of something else as she goes. Then finds herself humming instead. Her humming had fascinated Lux, so she was doing it more often. It was becoming a habit now that she had to distract herself and Lux so regularly these days. She makes her way quickly up the stairs and hums her way into Lux's rooms.

Usually, the book was easy to spy on the floor, but she doesn't see it there. She walks to the other side, where the crib is in hopes that he might have slept with it the night before. No, not there. She turns around to glance around the room and nearly jumps out of her skin.

"Oh!" she cries with a hand over her gaping mouth as she finally notices she's not alone in the rooms.

It's a long, quiet moment as they regard each other. She wants to mentally kick herself because she needed to stop reacting that way whenever she saw him. She's sure she looks like an idiot when she does.

"I'm sorry I startled you," he says as he looks at her. He'd been sitting in a high backed chair so she couldn't have seen him even if she had been paying attention when she entered. Her eyes move to his lap and find the book in his hands.

"No, no, I should have been paying more attention," she reassures him.

He blinks behind his glasses before he looks back down to the page he had been looking at. "This is amazing," he says. "Where did you get it?"

"I made it," she answers hesitantly, still unnerved to find him here of all places.

His eyes are a mixture of surprise and awe as they fly to hers. "You did?" he asks, looking down at it again as if with a new appreciation.

"It took me longer than it should have," she explains, remembering how many times she'd messed up and had to do it all over again. She finds herself walking closer to him to see which page he's looking at. Her eyes widen when she realizes it's her own country that has his attention.

"I've never been to your home," he says.

No, he hadn't. Of all the places he went to frequently, hers had never been one of them. Her home was a country of grassy plains and high mountains. A simple place. Very different from Nihilsomno.

"I've seen pictures of it," he continues and runs his finger lightly across the propped images.

"It's not as interesting as here," she says honestly.

"But you love it there," he points out.

"I do," she nods.

"You could tell from the way you portrayed it," he says.

She's not sure how he can tell that but finds herself loving him all the more for noticing. It makes her heart hurt to know that the one person who would be able to see that was him and he didn't love her back.

"What are you doing here?" she finds herself asking to distract herself.

He seems to stiffen then and closes the book to stand up. "I was checking the monitors," he answers. "I heard you... I heard about this and saw it on the floor."

So it _had_ been on the floor afterall.

"I'm glad you like it," she says with a smile. She had made it, wanting him to approve and she's happy that he does. It's just that right now, being around him was too painful to enjoy that happiness. "Its why I came up here. Lux's looking for it again. He's being fussy."

"It's about time for his nap," he says, handing it over to her. "You'd better hurry and get it to him before he has a fit."

"Yes. I'll see you later," she says rushing away before she can hear him respond.

He wasn't at dinner that night. He wasn't at dinner the following night either. She didn't see him for another week. It was hard for her to not ask about him and nobody seemed to say anything to her about him either. Usually they talked about some trip he had to make but this time, they were mysteriously quiet. Well, more like they said he was busy and shook their heads. Her schedule did not change. Her time was spent between taking care of Lux, seeing to Stella and spending time with the men who were like fathers. She didn't know what to do because no matter how busy she was, she still had time to worry about him. It wasn't even in that, he might be in danger, sort of way. She knew he wasn't in any danger. It's more like he just vanished. She didn't even see a glimpse of him when she walked the halls.

"Hey Heartbreaker!" shouts Des from the foyer, as she was just going up the stairs to her rooms.

Her lips still thin whenever he called her that.

"Yes?" she says looking over the railing to look at him.

"Have you seen Sapien?"

An odd question considering this was her and seeing Sapien was like seeing the air these days.

"No, I haven't," she answers.

"Not answering his blasted handheld and not telling anyone where he's going," grumbles Des.

Not answering his handheld? Now that was great cause for worry.

"A package came for him and it says urgent," explains Des as he shows her the package in his hand. "I've gotta go right now and I can't find him."

It's in her to ask how she would fair better but she can see the urgency on Des' face. "Can I help?" she asks.

"Since there's no telling where he is right now, could you take this to his rooms for me?"

"His rooms?" she nearly squeaks. "That wouldn't be proper."

"He's never in them so you can just put it where he'll easily see it," Des reasons.

"But, but I couldn't. You should just wait for his reply."

"I sent my message ten minutes ago and he usually writes back in one," says Des, bounding up the stairs towards her. "I'll send him a message saying that it's there."

"But, I, don't even know where his rooms are to begin with," she stutters. Why oh why did she even ask to be helpful.

"They're on the top floor, last door to your left," answers Des easily, almost thrusting the package in her hands. "Thanks, Maneater. I owe you one!"

He's already halfway down the stairs before she's recovered.

"But Des!"

"I gotta go!" he cries and is out of the foyer and out the doors.

Which leaves her with the box in her hands. It's not heavy but it's a little too big for her to hold with just one hand. It's stamped, "Urgent!" in red letters. So it was important, but it was when she read the return address that compelled her to rush up those stairs. The package was from Procella. So he most definitely wouldn't want to wait.

When she reached the fourth floor hallway, she had to take a moment to calm her breathing. She's never been up to this floor before and for some reason feels like she needs to walk as quietly as she can. Turning back, she makes sure that nobody sees her as she makes her way down the hall. Last door to the left, Des had said. It didn't matter that Des had reassured her that Sapien wouldn't be inside. She knocked anyway and even called out his name when she bucked up some courage to open the door. Then let out a sigh of relief when she didn't hear anything from inside. But still, she tiptoed inside after closing the door quietly behind her. Then took in the details of the first room.

Yes, she could easily tell that he was never in it and that made her feel better. At least he never had guests to wait in the room for him. The couches looked like they had never been sat on or lounged on. It was also a little dark, but the air certainly didn't feel dead. Obviously leaving the box on one of the couches wouldn't be a good idea so she tiptoed further to see where she could. The next room held a desk with a very fancy looking computer tower and an extremely large monitor. Both were turned off and it was even more proof that he didn't come in very often. They would have at least been put on the sleep mode if he did. She felt herself relax more when she saw that. The desk sat just before another open door, which she assumed was the actual bedroom. She was definitely not going to go inside there.

So, she walked over to the computer desk and placed the box beside the keyboard. She was just going to tiptoe her way back when something caught her eye from inside the bedroom. It looked like a handful of dead flowers on a small table beside the window. That struck her as odd considering there weren't any plants in the rooms and Sapien wasn't the type to have flowers put in his room. He definitely wouldn't have kept dead ones. They weren't even in a vase. Unable to help herself, she walked into the bedroom and straight towards the little table. The flowers were very old and dry. They looked as if someone had tried to preserve them but they had lost their color anyway. There was no way to tell now, what their original color had been. She can hardly tell what kinds of flowers they had been either. Why would Sapien...?

"Mira?" asks a sleepy voice just behind her and her whole body freezes. She can hear the rumple of bedsheets behind her and a body rise.

She was going to die, right there. No, she was going to kill Des first and then she was going to die. Just sink down onto the floor and drop dead. To die would be better than turning around and having to explain what she was doing there. But when she hears his footsteps, she finds herself turning around anyway to face him.

Then just stares at the picture he made. This room was dark like the others. The only light, just behind her so she could not see him that well. But she could tell that he must have just taken off his jacket and fallen into bed. He was wearing his usual slacks but his white shirt was wrinkled from sleep. As he came closer she also realized that he wasn't wearing his glasses either. She's so busy being terrified at having been caught by him that she doesn't realize that she hasn't said anything, but continues to stand there while he made his way towards her.

"Not her then," he says in a quiet voice, almost like he's talking to himself.

No, not her. Not Procella.

"It's never her," he says in the same quiet voice but he sounds angry this time as he stands in front of her. "It doesn't matter how much I try to tell her. It doesn't matter how much I wish. It's never her."

She feels her heart go out to him at his words, but she can't speak because she feels her own heart breaking at his confession meant for another. He has a dazed look in his eyes, which was so different from the focused, careful look she was used to. It was almost like he was still asleep.

"She floats around like some unattainable goddess, teasing me with her smile and her eyes," he continues and she's never heard this much emotion in his voice before.

She steps back but he steps closer.

"Always lukewarm and never just hot or cold," and even though his eyes are dazed, there's a depth in them as he stares down at her. "Like I don't matter at all. Like I'm not good enough for her to be anything but indifferent to."

For a brief moment it looks like he's going to snatch her in his arms. His hands actually twitch to do so, but he ends up backing away to take a breathe and she realizes that she's been holding hers.

"What are you doing here?" he asks, but he's not looking at her. He's looking at the floor but she knows he's not really seeing it. He sounds resigned but still angry, waiting for her to answer.

Well, now would be the time to explain herself.

"Procella sent you a package," she says and she's surprised how loud her voice sounds in comparison to how his had just sounded.

He looks surprised too because his head snaps up to look at her again and his eyes don't look so dazed now.

"Procella?" he asks as he frowns at her.

"Yes," she answers with a nod and starts to back away towards the outer room. "It said it was urgent. I'm so sorry for coming into your rooms like this."

She doesn't give him any time to reply before she's running out of his rooms and into the hallway. She doesn't stop running until she's in her rooms. Slamming the door shut, she leans against it as she clamps a hand over her trembling mouth. Her whole body is trembling and it takes her a moment to realize that her face is wet. Shakily, she reaches to touch her face and sees the wetness on her hand. As she looks at her wet, trembling hand she feels the tears completely flood out of her eyes. The tears she's wondered about are all falling out of her eyes in a steady stream as she chokes on a sob and collapses onto the floor.

"No, Sapien," she whispers to the empty room. "I'm not Procella."


	3. Tractus

**A/N**: Not only was I sidetracked by… well, I was. I also was a bit sad to let this one go. As for the hints within Eclipse, they were from the Glacialis chapter. Actually, that's the reference chapter for a lot of the things in here. The big thing being the conversation that happens between Stella and Vires in that chapter. It reflects the conversation Vires had with Mira in the last chapter.

Tractus is Latin for "Space, time, length."

_**Chapter Three: Tractus**_

That night, it was her who didn't make it down to dinner. Des had come to see her down but she hadn't even opened the door to tell him she wasn't going to make it. She didn't even have the strength to tell him off for making her go to Sapien's rooms earlier. So she definitely didn't have any strength to laugh when he attempted at making a joke from the other side of the door. It took enough strength to make sure he couldn't tell that she was crying her eyes out while he was standing there. She didn't care if Sapien thought it was weird or if he was angry with her or if he anything. Right now she couldn't care because she couldn't face anyone looking as she did.

Sometime later that evening, when she had finally gained enough control of herself to stop crying so foolishly, she made her way to her bathroom and splashed cold water onto her flushed face. The image that greeted her when she looked into the mirror startled her. It didn't look like the person staring back at her was really her. She felt changed, older, more weary. Maybe this was her learning experience. Her step towards becoming a more mature person. She's sure that people grew out of their first broken heart. It was just a blessing that her first love was someone like him. She knew he had never intentionally hurt her and he'd be really bothered if he knew that he was causing this. That was something to be thankful for. At least she hadn't been stupid enough to fall for some jerk that wouldn't have cared how she felt either way. Somehow that makes her feel just a little bit better. Not completely better but it was something towards the positive. She really needed to get a better grip on herself and work on that calm that she still hasn't been able to master. Even when he was still in the throes of sleep, confessing a depth of feeling that had moved her so greatly, he had still been controlled. She needed to learn how to do that and maybe, maybe she would be a better person for it.

Now all she was going to show for this were two huge, swollen eyes and Stella would take one look at her and know what she'd been up to. Then there would be the questions. The questions that she knew Stella had been wanting to ask her but hadn't because she was never the invasive, nosy sort of person you hated to tell your secrets to. But once Stella saw her swollen eyes, there would be nothing to stop the questions. Questions that she knew she would answer and the whole awful truth would come out. She knew that Stella would never betray her confidence, but it would change the way she would look at Sapien later. Which in turn, meant that he would eventually find out. He was still Sapien and he always managed to figure out everything. From the bathroom, she looks over at the lamp table and sees the little figurine. She takes a long breathe as she stares back down at the countertop she's leaning against. There would be no sleep tonight. The plus side to that was that she would have gotten rid of her swollen eyes by morning because of it. There is that at least too.

Wine colored eyes rise to look at herself again in the mirror. She takes in her long purple hair and small face. She did feel older but she still looked too young. Procella had an icy blue tint in her rounded eyes with long blond hair that cascaded down her back in waves. An ethereal beauty that would be the goddess that he had been thinking of when he had looked at her earlier in the small light that she had stood in. Burgundy eyes and purple hair were not the norm. They were not the ideal features of a reputed beauty. Even Stella had blond hair and blue eyes. There wasn't a person who wouldn't have said she wasn't beautiful. Which made it so very difficult to look at her own strange coloring and think she could rival. Even her own soon to be sister in law had those features too. That, was the ideal beauty and it hurt her even more that she wasn't even in the normal beauty category either. Astra had red, fiery hair and emerald colored eyes. The majority of the people in Nihilsomno had brown eyes and brown hair. Often, when Des and Vires would take her outside the castle walls, people would stop and stare at her. She can't blame them. Just look at the unusual coloring compared to their own.

Unique. She had that going for her. She was different and there was something to be proud of about being different. Nobody had ever called her ugly. She could be thankful for that. It wasn't that she minded being different. It would have bothered her to be exactly like everyone else. It was just that, her being different was probably not what he wanted. Of the things that she had tried to change about herself for his sake, these are the things that she will not change for anyone. Not even him. These things added to make her who she was and who she was, was different. Not only different because she was a Crystal Bearer but because she, herself, was different. None of them would ever want to her to be something she wasn't. She liked who she was turning out to be and she could thank him for helping her.

She'll never stop loving him. It didn't matter that he only felt sibling affection for her back. Even though it would hurt her wretchedly when he married and it would hurt her wretchedly when she saw him and Procella together, loving him meant wanting the best for his sake. Maybe _that_ was the test to maturity. Being mature enough to let the one you love be with someone that they loved and managing to be happy about it for their sake. Maybe this was her final lesson to leave childhood behind her to be the adult that she needed to be. Seeing it that way made her feel more settled and less sad. The pain was still there and the tears would always prickle within her eyes, but looking at it in that rational way made her feel calmer. Calmer when there was a side of her that wanted to curse the world for not letting her have what she wanted. That other side that wanted to be bitter. She thought of how selfish she had thought Etro had been years ago. Trying to stop Noctis from being with Stella because she couldn't have him herself. She remembers how much she hated the goddess for having such immature, irrational feelings of possession for someone who absolutely did not want her back. To think she could have easily been like that too. She'd be even stupider for ignoring that. She would never allow herself to be like that.

Letting out another breathe, she finally leaves the image in the mirror and walks over to the window. From her rooms, she could see just over the castle walls and onto the streets of Nihilsomno. The night was well along and the clouds were dark. She could see the beginnings of rain and in the near distance there was lightning. A storm was coming and it looked to be a fierce one. She looks down and can see people still walking on the streets, not in the least bit bothered by the rain and tries to imagine what their lives were like. Cheating a little, she uses her powers to discern where their paths would lead them and smiles. For the man she sees, who hails a cab, only to let someone else have it. She can see someone doing something thoughtful for him. To the young couple walking hand in hand she fears the man will be unfaithful, from the lingering looks he gives to other women who pass. She doesn't smile at that. Why were things so much easier to see in other people than her own?

There's a sudden knocking at her door and she has a very bad feeling wash over her. Without thinking, she rushes over to the door and opens it without even asking who it was.

"What is it, Des?" she asks and she's even more alarmed when she finds that he's white as a sheet. "What's happened?"

"Stella, went into labor," he answers looking a little dazed.

"What are you talking about?" she asks with a frown. "She's not due for another three weeks."

"She's bleeding, Mira," he tells her with something akin to dread in his usually bright eyes.

Bleeding was never a good sign.

"Come on," she says, taking his hand and pushing him back while closing her doors. "Let's go right now."

When she enters the sitting room just before the birthing chamber, she only just barely manages not to start panicking. You would have thought Stella was already dead with the deathly silence of the room. Sapien and Vires were standing, looking as if they didn't know what to do while their pale faces stared at Noctis in worry. Noctis who was clutching Lux tightly in his arms while Lux clutched him back just as tightly. It was hard to tell who was more terrified, the father or the son. Des walks to join them. Only Sapien looks up and notices her standing there.

"What happened?" she asks when he walks to stand in front of her. There's no time to worry about awkwardness right now when there were more pressing, important things going on.

"We, were up late," he answers as he thinks of what to say. "Noct and the rest of us had to go over some new plans for the city sewer system when Noct disappeared."

She nods. He doesn't need to explain why. Obviously Noctis had felt that something was terribly wrong with Stella and had teleported.

"So we ran over here and saw Lux sitting beside Stella on the floor," he continues. "It was dark. She must have been seeing to him... Mira there was blood everywhere."

She grabs hold of both of his arms so that he'll focus on her face. "She's going to be all right," she answers firmly. "I'm going to check on her but I need you to make sure Noctis doesn't do anything irrational."

He blinks a couple times before he nods.

"I'll be right back," she says before she rushes into the birthing chamber. She has to take a very quick breathe at what just how bad things must have looked to four men who didn't know a lot about these things. Even she was feeling queasy at the scene as the nurse maids ran around the sweating figure on the bed. There was red where the bedsheets should have been white and she feels the worry start to take over. But she shakes her head as she approaches the bed.

There is such intense pain on Stella's sweating face that she wishes she had healing powers instead of ones that were useless now.

"Stella," she says, laying her hand on a sweaty forehead.

"Oh Mira," Stella whispers amidst her pain. "I'm afraid I've frightened Lunae and Noctis."

"What are the nurses telling you?" she asks instead.

"They said the baby is coming but it's not ready," Stella breathes out. "They're going to... oh Mira, I cannot scare my boys. I can feel it. They are both so afraid."

"They're going to be fine and so are you and the baby," she reassures her firmly.

"They are going to cut me open to get the baby out," says Stella. "I am going to try not to scream but right now, it is all I can do not to."

"You do whatever you need to, to get through this," she says, taking her hand and squeezing. "Tell me what you need me to do. Let me worry about the boys. You worry about you girls."

"We girls?" asks Stella with a weak smile, even through the intensity of the pain she must be feeling.

"Because it is a girl, Stella. We both know that it is," she says with a firm nod.

Stella nods back with a gulp. "Yes, yes she's coming. Just like I knew she would. She is going to be fine."

"She's just a little torn like Noctis is sometimes," she comments and Stella actually laughs at that.

"My poor Lord," laments Stella as she grits her teeth. Then her blue eyes look at her burgundy ones. "Mira, I need you to help them through this. Men aren't as strong as us when it comes to these things."

"But, men are supposed to be the stronger," she says with a frown.

Stella shakes her head. "Not when it comes to these things. All four of them nearly fainted when they saw me earlier. They are going to need you to be strong and distract them. It would help me to know that they will not be running themselves ragged because of me."

It's hard for her not to point out that it didn't matter what she did, Noctis could feel whatever Stella was feeling, which meant that so could Lux.

Stella shakes her head as if she can read what she's thinking. "I am going to shield them, but I need you to keep them busy."

The lights start to flicker then and the lighting outside looks like it's reached the window.

"At least the thunder will cover my screams," says Stella gratefully.

How Stella could be thinking about the mental well being of Noctis and Lux before her own when she was obviously the one that needed it was so inspiring for her. It so touched her that she didn't think any amount of work would ever make her as good a person as Stella was. The lights flicker again but they don't come back on as quickly as they had before.

"I really could have used Tonitrus' voice right about now," comments Stella, making her laugh this time.

The nurses are still preparing to operate on Stella and she knows she doesn't have much time.

"I'm going to take care of the boys," she promises Stella.

A slow smile crosses Stella's lips. "Thank you."

She kisses Stella's hand before stepping back and walking back into the sitting room. Vires and Des are sitting on the long couch, still white and worried. They can't even muster up their usual arguing. Her heart nearly melts when she sees Sapien talking to Noctis and Lux quietly. Noctis' shoulders are still incredibly tense but he isn't clutching at Lux so desperately now as he listens to whatever Sapien is telling him. Lux looks at her with fearful eyes and reaches for her.

"Mia!" he cries as if he realizes that she would help him feel assured where his father had been unable to.

Not in Noctis' current mental state, she rationalizes.

"Come here, Night Angel," she says soothingly as Noctis lets her take Lux in her arms. "What a scare you had."

He nods at her before burying his face in her neck. She finds herself starting to hum a lullaby that he likes and rocks him gently in her arms. The lights are beginning to flicker with more frequency and the thunder boomed even louder.

"They're going to go out completely soon," comments Sapien. "The last thunderstorm caused damage to some of the fuse boxes and they haven't been the same since. We've been having to replace them more frequently. It's only a matter of time before they blow out."

"I heard that there was flooding too," she says, still rocking Lux gently in her arms.

"Which was what we were meeting about tonight," explains Sapien and she can tell that he's trying to stay calm too. His eyes keep looking over at Noctis to make sure he's all right. "Some of the sewer lines need to be replaced. I theorized that there are probably cracks in the main that'll be a problem if this storm is as bad as the last time."

"The storm will be bad," she answers, because she had seen it coming. She looks up at Sapien. "We can't have Stella in the dark tonight of all nights. Noctis."

Noctis doesn't turn his head but she knows that he's listening. "Noctis, you need to help with the fuse boxes."

"I cannot leave Stella like this," Noctis says in a quiet voice.

"You won't be," she tells him. "You have to help so the nurses won't have to operate on her in the dark." She turns to look at Sapien. "Where are the boxes?"

"Different areas of the castle," he answers.

"Then you're the only one who can get to them fast enough," she says turning back to Noctis. Then she looks at the other two on the couch. "And you both should check those sewer lines to make sure Stella doesn't have to smell anything foul should they burst."

"But I'll get dirty!" protests Des and she almost lets out a sigh of relief to hear the life back in his voice.

"Try having a baby," she retorts, giving him a huffy sort of look. "The sooner you get those things done, the better it will be for Stella."

Another flash of lightning seems to agree with her.

"You are right, Mira," says Noctis and she turns to see that there is some spark in his red eyes now. A spark of purpose. "We need to do something instead of standing here."

"Get," orders Sapien with a glare at Des.

"Gonna ruin yet another shirt and who is going to pay for it? Why do these thing always happen when I'm wearing one of my good ones? I don't understand..." rambles Des as he makes his way out of the rooms, while Vires grumbles a 'Stop complaining," just behind him.

She looks up at Noctis with a firm and absolute look on her face. "Stella is going to be fine and she needs you to control yourself."

"Are you sure, Mira?" he asks hesitantly. His eyes venture towards the doors in silent yearning.

"Yes," she says again. "You're going to have a beautiful baby girl and she'll have you wrapped around her finger and your wife is going to give you a knowing smirk whenever you give in to her demands."

A small quirk appears on the corners of Noctis' lips at that.

"Be good, Lunae," says Noctis as he kisses Lux on the forehead. He walks over to the door and waits for Sapien to follow him.

Which causes her to look up at Sapien to ask why he hadn't already gone, but the words get stuck in her throat when she sees the look on his face. It's not exactly careful. It's still not longing, but it's not exactly brotherly either. It's intense. So intense that it confuses her. She's sure she's frowning back. Then he stiffens as if he remembers something and walks by Noctis to walk out the door. Noctis' eyes follow Sapien outside before they turn back to look at her. There is something in Noctis' eyes that confuses her even more but he doesn't say anything before he too, disappears out the door.

"Mama, hurt," cries Lux, bringing her attention back to him in her arms. He looks like he's on the verge of crying.

He can hear Stella in the other room crying softly from the pain. Distracting him is going to be a little more tricky and there's only one thing she can do to try and help him.

"Mama's going to just fine," she tells him with a warm smile. She leans over to kiss his cheeks and notices how his lip twitches into an almost smile. Her rune activates and a purple glow fills the room as she encases the both of them in her shield. Her shield is weak without her brother but she can at least keep Lux distracted enough not to notice the pain coming from his mother. She looks down and sees the awe in his bright, teary blue eyes, as they take in the purple that surrounds them.

"Woah," he says as he leans backwards to see how far it goes.

When he reaches his arms to try to touch the shield, she lifts him higher onto her shoulders so he can. The purple shimmers like water when he reaches for it, before smoothing over again and he squeals in delight as he tries to grab it again.

"Mia!" he shouts excited before babbling off in his baby speech as he stares at the purple ripples that he causes. He's tired though. She can see him fight to keep his eyes open to stare at the purple light.

With his attention elsewhere, she starts to hum again, very softly. Soothingly, she even starts to sing the words of the lullaby in a gentle voice as she clutches the back of his small head and walks around the room. She continues singing in a whispering voice, feeling him rest his head against her shoulder. Starting another song, she sings in that same soothing tone and feels the tension leave his small body until she can feel that he's fallen asleep. Even then, she keeps on singing with her shield in place around them and hopes that it won't be much longer.

It isn't long before she feels her own exhaustion from the events of the day. What a day it had been too. She had known she would not sleep, but she hadn't foreseen this. Lightning still flashes but her shield blocks out the boom of the resounding thunder. The lights still flicker. As she sits herself comfortably upon the large comfort chair, she continues her humming and thinks about how strong Stella was. An ideal woman if she ever saw one. Not only was she a queen in her own right, she was married to Noctis and had faced so many challenges because she loved him. Yet even when she was in so much pain, she only thought of him. That was love. That was strength. She absently kisses Lux's head, thinking he was the most fortunate baby and soon he would have a little sister. To grow up with that kind of love, the both of them would make the world a very good place. Their future would be so different from the past they had left behind. She's most fortunate of all. She was a part of the generation was going to pass but still, she would be part of the generation that will be. A happy sigh escapes her lips as she leans her head back and imagines that future.

"Mira," calls a soothing voice, startling her awake. She sits up with Lux still cuddled in her arms and looks up at Noctis. The lights are no longer flickering and he looks soaking wet, but there's a relieved smile on his face. She wonders how much time had passed.

"Is everything all right?" she asks, sitting up. It is still dark, but there are the beginnings of light and the rain looks like its finishing its pour upon the ground.

"Everything is fine," Noctis answers.

"Is she here?" she asks excitedly.

He nods with a smirk.

She's on her feet with a heavy baby and rushes into the birthing chamber to find Stella sitting in the middle of the large bed with a carefully wrapped bundle in her arms.

"Stella," she says, rushing over to her.

"Mira, honey," Stella answers. She looks absolutely exhausted, but happy and satisfied.

She peers down and sees the heart shaped face of the new princess.

"Oh, Stella," she breathes, sitting down beside her.

The motion wakes the princess and her eyes open to look at her. Her eyes are not a brilliant blue like her brother's, but a darker shade that was almost violet. Her hair was blond and it is significantly tamer than when Lux was born. There's a quick intake of breathe from her shoulder and she realizes that Lux is awake and staring at his sister.

"You are a big brother now, Lunae," Stella tells him as she shows his sister to him.

"Mama, okay?" he asks, touching her arm.

"I am more than okay, luv," Stella answers. "But I need to sleep for a little bit. Would you help your father watch your sister while I sleep?"

"Yes," Lux answers simply. He looks up and she notices Noctis in the doorway. "Papa, look!"

"Come," says Noctis. He's changed now and dry, as he gently takes his baby girl from his wife's arms. He kisses Stella solidly on the lips. "Thank you, Bright Star."

Lux leans over and kisses Stella too, before he starts to scramble in order to follow. So she sets him down on his feet and he hobbles to the doorway behind Noctis.

"You get your rest too, sweetie," says Stella beside her. "Handling five boys was probably exhausting."

"I just ordered them around," she says.

"Still," giggles Stella weakly. "I want you to get to bed now too."

"All right, but you must tell me her name first," she answers eagerly.

Stella smiles with a sigh. "Lumina."

She finds herself nodding in agreement. It was just as she had seen it. "It's beautiful."

"You can thank Noctis for it," answers Stella. "Now off you go."

She grins before kissing Stella on the forehead and making her way back to the adjoining room. Des and Vires look freshly showered and sit on either side of Noctis to stare at Lumina. Lux is sitting on Vires' lap looking too and she wishes she had a camera. The tiny girl is staring at each of them quietly in that assessing way that she obvious got from her father.

"Where's Sapien?" she asks.

"Probably on his way over now," answers Noctis.

"Do you want one of us to take you back to your rooms, Little One?" asks Vires.

"No, no," she says with a shake of her head. "I can manage and I think I need the walk."

"Good night, Mira," says Noctis. "Thank you."

"Good night, Maneater," says Des.

"See ya, Mia!" cries Lux and Vires merely nods his own good night.

"Good night to you all," she responds, walking through the door and heading back towards the stairs.

She allows herself a deep breathe and stretch now that everything was back as it should be. Her eyes close as she walks forward and takes another deep breath. Stretching her arms out, she straightens her back as she walks lazily towards the stairwell. Twisting her neck, she feels it crack from the tension of before. When she opens her eyes she almost reacts as she usually does. With a gaping mouth and a hand to cover it but she doesn't this time. Though she is a little embarrassed to be caught in mid stretch, it should be expected given the night they all had. She manages to smile as she walks closer to Sapien.

He's drenched, as Noctis was before and he's looking at her in that way that he had before he left earlier. It's an intense sort of stare that was not as careful as it usually was. Instead of looking like he was trying to figure her out, it looks like he's trying search into her very depths. It confuses her again and she wonders if its because he's embarrassed about his words that had been meant for Procella.

"All well?" she asks when she's standing in front of him.

He nods. "Is Stella all right?"

"Everyone's good. You should go see them," she answers and walks around him to keep going her way back to her rooms.

Steadily and tiredly, she walks up the stairs to her floor and makes her way back to her rooms. The rain has fully stopped now and she's sure that dawn will be on its way. She can sleep now and be satisfied that all was well in the world. As she slips into her bed, in her night clothes, she can breathe a sigh of relief. She thinks that she can do this. As much as it hurt, she was going to have to do this. The world didn't revolve around her and having witnessed what she'd witnessed tonight, she's glad that it doesn't. Because she doesn't think she'd have the strength to be what everyone needed her to be.

The next day was a happy occasion. It meant the arrival of the other Crystal Bearers. She would get to see the ones that she considered family. Her brother would be coming too. Most important of all, Sapien would be able to see Procella. She's sure that he's missed her. But she lacks the strength to be able to watch the reunion, so she avoids both until she's certain they must have seen each other. She makes a point of trying to avoid Sol as well, but she's not as successful at that when she ends up bumping into him two days after Lumina's birth.

"Dear Mira," Sol greets with a charming smile.

"Hello Sol," she says with a forced smile of her own.

"Are you off to one of your flower hunting excursions? I am sure the lavender are quite lovely right now," he says with a twinkle in his eye that makes her smile almost wane.

The reality that it really was him sending her those gifts hadn't hit her as hard as it had at that moment.

"I am actually," she says.

"It's a fine day out," he comments walking beside her. "I'm sure you'll find plenty of good choices."

She smiles but she doesn't respond. They pass Sapien on their way and she gives him a smile in greeting before they continue on their way together.

"I hear you've been here for quite awhile already," says Sol.

"Almost two months now," she answers.

"To keep you shut up here isn't fair," he says disapprovingly.

"But I like it here," she says. "I don't mind."

"Because you've too big a heart," he says with another smile.

She's not sure if he means that as a compliment or not but decides it must be. Sol's always been kind to her.

"Have you given anymore thought to our last conversation, Mira?" asks Sol.

"Which conversation?" she asks absently. They've reached the gardens and she can already spy a few flowers that she wants to pluck. She walks over to a couple and begins to gather them.

"Which one you're in love with," says Sol.

She pauses to look at him and sees the smile on his face. "The one where you told me Des wasn't for me?"

"Partially," he clarifies.

"You don't have to worry about me being in love with anyone," she answers.

"So you've gotten over it?"

"I didn't say that," she says, sitting down on the grass. "I just mean that you shouldn't worry."

He shouldn't considering she thought she was doing really well being able to talk to Sapien without feeling like her world was going to end. At least, not too badly.

She stares at Sol as he stares at her and just when he's about to say something his attention is distracted by something off to the side of them. Then he lets out an exaggerated sigh.

"What it is with you Nihil men and thinking that I'll somehow taint Mira's virtue?" he asks with a dramatic pinching of his nose.

She frowns, turning to see Sapien standing a few feet away. Had he followed them here to make sure Sol didn't try anything towards her? Just like Des did, she sighs to herself. She remembers the conversation that happened after that. Then, the dread of having the same conversation with Sapien sinks in. She suddenly doesn't mind Sol's presence because she's sure Sapien wouldn't say the things that Des said to her if he was there. It's too soon to hear that he was sad that she had grown up as Des had.

"Because we know better," comments Sapien in his usual dry tone.

Sol rolls his eyes. "I suppose you'll be telling me next that Noctis is looking for me."

To her surprise, Sapien doesn't say anything. He just continues to stand there and stare at the both of them.

Sol sighs as if calling on patience before he starts to walk away.

"Sol," she finds herself calling out to him. She suddenly feels like his presence is important in stalling the conversation she's going to be having with Sapien when he leaves.

"You trust your virtue with me, don't you Mira?" Sol asks.

She can't honestly say yes, but she's tempted to say it to get him to stay. "You've never tried anything," she ends up saying.

"Well, I'm sure there are plenty of other women I can harass without the lot of you trying to interrupt a simple conversation," complains Sol as he walks away. "Good afternoon, Dearest Mira."

She watches helplessly as he walks away and she's left alone with Sapien. Her heart is starting to pound as she looks hesitantly up at him. She knows that the smile that ends up reaching her face is strained. The look he's giving her isn't too encouraging either. There's no word to describe it. It's not only intense but it's also possibly upset.

"You're never sitting with the lavenders anymore," he states and his voice sounds flatter than usual.

Not a question. He's pointing out fact.

"No, I haven't been," she agrees as she looks at the flowers in her hands.

"Do you... not like them anymore?" he asks hesitantly.

She shakes her head. "They just, remind me," she bites her lips and tries to make up an excuse that would make sense.

"I'd appreciate it if you weren't so polite to me," he says suddenly.

"Polite?" she asks, looking back up at him.

"I've already said you didn't have to spare my feelings," he reminds her.

"How can I be rude to someone who is so helpful all the time?" she asks quizzically.

His eyes change to surprise before they quickly go back to careful.

"Was that.... what you were thinking this whole time?" he asks as if she's wounded him. "That I was just trying to be helpful?"

She gets the sense that they're talking about two completely different things. But when she opens her mouth to ask what he means he's talking again.

"Of course you would," he says almost to himself as he looks away and it looks like he's mentally berating himself. "Why would you think any differently?"

"Sapien, what...?"

"That's why you've been so distant," he says and he still looks like he's talking to himself more than to her. "Because my gifts were obviously more than being helpful and they made you feel uncomfortable."

His gifts. His. Gifts.

"I knew it was too big of a gamble," he continues and he looks like he's still mentally berating himself. "I knew it would most likely make you feel uneasy. I'm just the boring older brother that doesn't know how to have fun. Then I go and scare you the other day in my room."

Boring older brother. Scared her?

"I'm sorry, Mira," he says with a shake of his head. "I'm really sorry for making you feel that way. It's just that..." he pauses to look down at her. "I see you so full of life and so beautiful and everything that I'm not. Like a goddess created from my dreams that I... I'm sorry," he takes a step back and won't look at her. "I shouldn't have... I'm sorry."

Then he's gone. Leaving her sitting there so stunned that she's dropped her flowers and can't even think to move, let alone speak. His gifts. His thinking she only saw him as a boring older brother. A boring brother who didn't know how to have fun. Fun like Des. All this time she worried that he would only see her as little sister and it was him who was worried that she thought of him only as a brother? No, no that can't be right. He says the most endearing words to her and leaves without waiting for her to say anything back. Him apologizing to her about making her feel awkward. Then just leaving. Leaving without explaining why. Leaving her without letting her tell him he was wrong. For once, he was wrong.

She rises quickly to her feet, forgetting the flowers and rushing after him inside the castle.

"Where you off to so fast, Maneater?" asks Des.

"Did you see Sapien?" she asks.

"Yeah, he said he had to take care of something in his room," answers Des just before she rushes past him and takes the stairs two at a time.

Unlike the first time she ventured towards his room, she doesn't care how much noise she makes and who sees her as she runs down the hall. His door is still open and she rushes through it with a shout of his name. He's not in the front room so she walks to the room with the desk. She's about to rush past the desk but she stops in her tracks as she looks at something on the small table by the window. She doesn't understand what she's seeing at first as she slowly makes her way to get a closer look.

The package from Procella was opened, forgotten on the floor. What had been inside now sat on top of the table. The old flowers still resting where they had before. The light from the partially opened curtain shines through the figure on the table, creating streaks of color around the room. It's a glass figure. Clear and brilliant. She remembers marveling at them when she had been to Glacialis so long ago. Glacialis was the only place on the planet to get a figure like this. But what makes her breath stop was not the figure itself, but what it looked like. It was intricately carved in her own image. It was her hair that cascaded down past the shoulders, along the back. The skirts were detailed with creases as if caught in a breeze. This was her!

"It was supposed to be my last gift," he mutters behind her.

She turns around and sees him in the bathroom doorway on the other side of the room.

"My last gift before... but it doesn't matter now," he says shaking his head again. "Do, you like it?"

"It's... beautiful," she says and she wonders if that sounds too prideful considering it was a statue of her.

"I had to endure Procella's teasing for five months," he states, leaving the doorway and coming closer. "I know you liked the little figurine I sent so I thought maybe... you might like one too."

"How... how did you know that?" she asks and her voice sounds like it will crack.

"Vitrum told me one day," he explains but leaves it half finished because it doesn't matter. This is Sapien. He finds out everything. "Since you obviously were feeling uncomfortable with my attention, I was going to keep it."

Keep it just like this so he could look at it, with the light catching it just right and think of her. It's all she can do to keep her heart still in her chest.

"If you don't mind," he says, thinking it over. "You can still have it if you want it."

"Why the flowers?" she asks instead, looking at them beside the glass figure.

"Those were the ones you picked that day I helped you," he answers sheepishly. "Stella had so many she didn't notice that I took the white ones that you picked."

Tears were forming in her eyes as he got closer. They kept coming, threatening to spill over the brim of her eyes as each thing he told her sent a shot to her heart. She shakes her head as they start to fall from her eyes.

"Stop," she pleads with a shake of her head. He'd been doing all this for her and all she'd done was treat him… badly. Treated him so badly when he didn't deserve to ever be treated like that.

He does stop and there's a hurt in his eyes when she looks up at them. It's a hurt so intense that it makes her cry even more.

"I know," he whispers, looking down. "I'm sorry. I'm not sure what's wrong with me. I'm usually very good at keeping things to myself."

"It's not you," she cries, shaking her head. "It's me! It's me who should be saying she's sorry because I'm the one that's been acting so stupid."

It doesn't look like he understands her.

"I heard you telling Procella what dress you wanted and I thought... I just assumed you were talking about what you wanted _her_ to wear for you," she confesses. "I thought you and her..." she pauses at the frown that appears on his face. Like the thought of him in love with Procella made him feel sick. Like the thought of Sol being in love with her made her feel sick. It makes her feel even more stupid. "Well, I thought she'd be better for you. So I tried to..."

"Stay away," he finishes in a whisper and she can see his eyes as he seems to process this.

"Your gifts didn't make me feel uncomfortable," she says. "You can't even imagine how much I loved the days that I knew they would come. How much they helped me get through the year I spent missing you so much I thought I'd go crazy."

He doesn't look like he's going to say anything and she's glad because she has a lot to say too as she takes a step closer to him this time.

"There was no way for me to think of you half as much as you thought of me because there was no way you could think of me as much as I already thought of you," she says. "Boring older brother? How could you think of me as anything but the childish little sister? Don't you know how much you've helped me be better?"

When his hand touches the side of her face, she startles at how close he is now.

"Goddess Mira," he says, looking into her teary eyes. His thumb brushes her cheek as if he's never felt anything like her skin before. "Could you love me?"

He asks it like he doesn't think she could and he's so wrong. So wrong.

"Of course I love you," she says blinking up at him.

She's suddenly in his arms and against his body and he's kissing her. Kissing her when she thought he'd never want to and it felt like _he_ was afraid it was her who wouldn't want to kiss him. Reaching up, she holds onto his face as she leans in closer to deep the kiss. It's her first kiss and as many times as she'd imagine how it would feel, she never thought it would be quite like this. She could feel it all the way to her toes and the nervousness that she thought she'd feel wasn't there. Because she trusted him. She knew that he would make it right.

They part with their hands holding each other's face and stare. He kisses her briefly again before running a hand through her hair.

"I don't deserve you," he says taking in the features of her face. "But I can't let you go when I want you so much. I have to have you, Mira."

"I suppose it's only fair," she agrees with a teasing smile on her face. "When I must have you too."

There was no careful look now. There was an openness in his eyes that makes her heart flutter. It was an exposure of the depths of a man who never let anyone see it.

"If you have time for me that is," she says in hopes of assuring him that she wouldn't demand his time when he had so many things he needed to do.

There's a hurt look in his eyes when she says it. "You told me once that you wished I made time for other things than work," he says.

"Yes, but I know how much you're needed."

"But… when I clear an entire night to spend with you, you…," he confesses, holding her a little more possessively now.

"I what?" she asks, dreading what he's about to say.

He looks unsure. "When you wouldn't even let me walk you to your rooms."

His only free night after that awkward dinner. He had freed up his night hoping to spend it with her, only to have her refuse him and have Vires walk her out instead.

She gives a hurt cry for his sake and kisses him again. Which he returns in full, but she can feel the hurt he's still feeling and it compels her to kiss him harder in response to reassure him.

He's breathless when they part this time and he leans his forehead against hers. "But I think I can forgive you if you promise you'll spend tonight with me on a walk around the city."

"Yes, I promise," she says kissing him on the lips again.

"And not only will I forgive, I will never, ever mention that you were going to let Procella have me if you marry me."

She pulls back to stare up at him with wide eyes.

"I, I know you love your home and I will..."

"You, you want to marry me?" she asks.

"How else will I be able to keep you?" he asks and he's not teasing. He's serious in that way that only he can be serious.

"Yes," she says. "I will marry you."

A relieved smile crosses his face and he brings her closer to hold her to him. She feels him sigh into her hair as he whispers, "I love you."

Her hand finds his face as she pulls back to look at him. "I've always loved you." She breathes a laugh as she sees the unguarded shock on his face. "I get to live here with you and watch Lux and Lumina grow up," she feels the tears still sliding down her cheek as she thinks about this.

He makes an agreeing sound as he reaches to wipe the moisture from her face. "And you'll let me know the next time you decide to crawl beside Lux to race up the stairs."

She feels the heat rush to her face. "You saw that?"

"I was at the bottom of the stairs so I couldn't see you very well," he states.

Oh she had been so glad he hadn't seen that, but he had!

"But on the next race, I want to be the ref," he comments dryly but there's a hint of a smirk in there too.

"No," she says shaking her head. "You're going to be the one racing."

As hard as she had tried to be mature and composed to show Sapien that she'd grown up, it was quite a shock to realize that he loved her random occasional need to pout like a child or forget decorum and play with Lumina and Lux shamelessly. She remembers the first time she realized this. She doesn't remember what exactly she had been doing at the time. Only that when she heard laughter behind her, it shocked her so thoroughly to see that it was coming from him as he watched her, that it didn't matter what she'd been doing. All that mattered was that he was laughing in a way that she'd never seen him laugh before. It was then that she realized he didn't laugh all that often. She doesn't think she can recall ever having heard him laugh at all. She'd seen amusement in his eyes but never actual laughter. Not just the laughter itself. It wasn't even the sort of teasing, mocking laughter that Des and Vires often roared. It was an affectionate, adoring sort of laugh. It was made even more so when he'd kissed her so sweetly as he had still been chuckling. He didn't do it often and he wasn't the type you could coax into laughing either because he just wasn't like that. So when she did hear it, it was something to cherish. Especially when it seemed only she had the ability to get him to do it more than anyone else.

He spoiled her more than should be allowed. Not in the way of buying her expensive gifts and jewelry. He did buy her those things too but that's not how he spoiled her. Just like his gifts had always been little things that touched her. Whether it was a candy that she liked to flowers that she couldn't find to bringing something back on those trips that he always had to take. He tried to take her as often as he could but even she knew that there were certain trips she couldn't take with him. So he always brought something back to let her know that he had been thinking of her. Often, she found little things that he would leave her at random times and she'd thank him by kissing him when she saw him later. Those were the things that meant the most.

She thinks her favorite part of being married to him were those mornings when she woke up to find him already watching her. He still didn't sleep very often and he usually wasn't there when she fell asleep, but he didn't often miss when she woke up. Usually, he wasn't even under the covers with her, but on top of them watching her. Watching her in a way that was more than careful and it made her heart melt every time she opened her eyes and saw him there. He never said anything but she could see it in his eyes that he wasn't sure why she was there with him. He always looked almost surprised with a look of marvel when she'd scoot closer to him each time and clutch his shirt to be closer.

It was a wonder to be married to someone so observant and resourceful. When she had been planning their wedding, he had insisted that they marry in her home country. Then had proceeded to get her everything she wanted, even when she hadn't even told him about them. He did that all the time. She'd given up trying to figure out how he found out about these things because he'd never tell and it was pointless to ask. So she'd just been thankful and appreciative. It was clear that he wasn't used to people doing things for him because the first time she gave him something she knew he liked, he almost didn't know what to do with it. Then had saved it for so long that it wasn't worth actually using. That didn't stop her though and she kept doing things for him too.

They both helped Noctis and Stella. Then later, they both helped Lux and Lumina too. Noctis said he felt a change was happening and he feared for the safety of the Crystal children. He said it was the same feeling he got the night this all started. The night he had been attacked and forced to expose how powerful he really was, after hiding it from everyone for so long. He worries and so does her husband, but she's confident. There was always a fight at the end of an era. It was the only way for the new world to begin.

_The end._

* * *

**End Notes**: I feel more complete now that this has been written. I don't feel like there is something else that I need to add. Which I'm sure, considering my rather obsessive nature, that I'll find something else from Sapien's POV that I wanted to add but completely forgot. But that aside, I think it's good this way. This was a very simple story, that was pretty predictable but it wasn't intended to be complicated to figure out. Everyone pretty much got it right away, even though I hope that you had a moment of doubt at least. I felt so bad for Sapien while writing this because the poor guy wasn't doing anything wrong and thought it was all his fault.


End file.
